Trump Stresses Israel's Security in Talks With Putin

HELSINKI - The United States and Russia will work together to ensure Israel's security, President Donald Trump said Monday after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We both spoke with Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and they would like to do certain things with Syria having to do with the safety of Israel," Trump told a joint news conference. "Russia and the United States will work jointly (in this regard)."

"Creating safety for Israel is something both Putin and I would like to see very much," Trump said.

Putin said Trump had spent a lot of time talking about Israel during their talks. The conditions were in place for effective co-operation on Syria, Putin added. Washington and Moscow back different sides in the eight-year-old civil war.

Trump said they also wanted to help the Syrian people on a humanitarian basis.

"Our (US 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.