Trump Meets Putin: 'Getting Along With Russia Is a Good Thing'

U.S. President Donald Trump praised Russia's World Cup performance Monday before outlining his agenda as he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki for their long-awaited summit.

"Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said as he shifted to the substantive issues at stake in the closed-door meeting of the two world leaders. "The world wants to see us get along."

"Most importantly we have a lot of good things to talk about," Trump said after opening his remarks with praise for Russia's World Cup performance.

The highly anticipated event was to start with 90 minutes in which the former property developer and the former KGB agent meet one-on-one, with only their respective translators in attendance. For Putin, the meeting is a win even before it began, as it helps restore an image of parity with the U.S. that Russia lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The two will talk about "everything from trade to military to missiles to China. We’ll be talking a little bit about China. Our mutual friend president Xi," Trump said.

Trump said the two countries can have an "extraordinary relationship."

He did not mention Russia's meddling in the U.S. election.

Putin, meanwhile, told Trump that it was time to talk about relations between Moscow and Washington.

Putin also suggested they should discuss difficult multi-national issues.

"There are enough of them for us to start paying attention," Putin said.

In a bit of gamesmanship, Putin arrived in Helsinki about a half-hour late, while Trump didn’t depart the resort home where he was meeting with advisers for the summit until after the Russian leader arrived at the presidential palace. The meeting was delayed about an hour as a result.

Having campaigned on a promise to improve ties with Putin, Trump’s meeting the Kremlin leader over the objections of U.S. lawmakers after a grand jury indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers on Friday for their alleged role in meddling with the 2016 election.

The Russian agents are accused of hacking email accounts controlled by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and publicizing messages. The indictments raised the stakes for the Helsinki summit, even as aides to both Trump and Putin ratcheted down expectations.