The United States and Russia will work together to ensure Israel's security, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
"We've worked with Israel long and hard for many years, many decades," Trump told a joint press conference.
"I think we've never – never has anyone, any country, been closer than we are. President Putin also is helping Israel. And we both spoke with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, and they [the Russians] would like to do certain things with respect to Syria, having to do with the safety of Israel. So in that respect, we absolutely would like to work in order to help Israel. And Israel would be working with us. So both countries would work jointly. Creating safety for Israel is something both Putin and I would like to see very much," Trump said.
The Russian leader said that during the "very successful" one-on-one meeting, Trump placed a special emphasis on maintaining Israel's security. The conditions were in place for effective cooperation on Syria, Putin added. Washington and Moscow back different sides in the eight-year-old civil war.
In an interview with Fox News later Monday, Trump said the meeting with Putin had yielded a "really good conclusion" for Israel.
"We came to a lot of good conclusions. A really good conclusion for Israel, something very strong."
Putin, Trump added, is a "believer" in the Jewish state and in Netanyahu.
"He's a believer in Israel; he's a fan of [Netanyahu]. He's really helping him a lot and will help him a lot, which is good for all of us."
Putin, meanwhile, said in Helsinki that when terrorist forces are wiped out in southern and western Syria, "the south of Syria should be brought to the full compliance with the treaty of 1974, about the separation of forces of Israel and Syria. This will bring peace to the Golan Heights, and bring a more peaceful relationship between Syria and Israel, and also provide security [to] the State of Israel."
Netanyahu "welcomed the deep commitment" of the U.S., his office said in a statement released after the summit. The prime minister "greatly appreciates the security coordination between Israel and Russia and expressed the clear position to President Putin on the need to maintain the separation agreements between Israel and Syria in 1974," the statement said.
Trump said the U.S. also wanted to help the Syrian people on a humanitarian basis.
"Our [U.S. and Russian] militaries have gotten along better than our political leaders for a number of years. And we get along in Syria, too," Trump said.
Trump also said he had stressed the importance of putting pressure on Iran, an ally of Russia, while Putin said he was aware of U.S. opposition to the international nuclear agreement on Iran, which Russian supports.
"I made clear we will not allow Iran to benefit from our successful campaign against [Islamic State]," Trump told reporters after their meeting.
The two leaders first met privately and then at a dinner with their foreign ministers and senior advisers. Some pundits suggested that the longer-than-expected private meeting signaled a mutual desire on the part of both leaders to improve frayed Washington-Moscow relations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump blamed his own country's past "foolishness and stupidity" for the two powers' hostile relations.
Standing next to the American leader, Putin admitted that the superpowers were in a "difficult period" in their relationship and that the atmosphere between them was "tense."
He said Trump had also raised accusations of Russian interference in U.S. elections.
"I had to repeat what I have already said many times before – the Russian state has never interfered and is not planning to interfere in the USA's internal affairs," Putin said.
"It is obvious to everyone that bilateral ties are going through a difficult period. However there are no objective reasons for these difficulties, the current tense atmosphere," he said.
The Russian leader suggested special prosecutor Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who is looking into interference in the November 2016 vote, send Moscow a request to interview the Russians he suspects of meddling.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe Putin ordered hackers and propagandists to intervene in the 2016 election to help Trump win, but the U.S. leader appeared to side with his Russian counterpart.
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today and what he did is an incredible offer," Trump said.
Trump also declared that the investigation into Moscow's alleged meddling in his election had been a "disaster" for the United States.
"We ran a brilliant campaign and that's why I'm president," Trump said.
In response to a question about whether he had wanted Trump to win the election, Putin said he did, because the businessman had pledged to improve ties between Washington and Moscow.
In any case, the positive atmosphere in Helsinki raised the ire of Washington's European allies. Parallel to the summit in the Finnish capital, European Union leaders convened a summit of their own in Beijing.
European Council President Donald Tusk called on Europe, China, the U.S. and Russia to work together to avoid trade wars and "prevent conflict and chaos."
"We are all aware of the fact that the architecture of the world is changing before our very eyes and it is our common responsibility to make it change for the better," he said on Monday at the opening of the summit between China and the EU in Beijing.
Tusk also said that trade wars can turn into "hot conflicts" and called for reforming the World Trade Organization. "There is still time to prevent conflict and chaos," he said.
