President Trump Meets Vladimir Putin: 'It's An Honor To Be With You'

HAMBURG, GERMANY — President Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin Friday at the G20 summit, shaking hands and telling the Russian president that it was an honor to be together. During the meeting, multiple outlets reported that Russia and the United States have brokered a ceasefire in southwest Syria.

"This de-escalation area was agreed, it's well-defined, agreements on who will secure this area," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after the meeting, which he also attended. "A ceasefire has been entered into. And I think this is our first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria."

Russia has backed Syrian President Bashir al-Assad in the conflict, while the United States has backed the rebel forces. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Our position continues to be that we see no long-term role for the Assad family or the Assad regime," Tillerson said. "And we have made this clear to everyone — we've certainly made it clear in our discussions with Russia — that we do not think Syria can achieve international recognition in the future."

The private meeting, scheduled to be held for only 30 minutes, lasted well over two hours.

Tillerson explained: "There was just such a level of engagement and exchange, and neither one of them wanted to stop." First Lady Melania Trump even tried to break up the meeting when it went overtime, but they continued anyway.

Tillerson said that the beginning of the meeting, Trump raised the "concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election"; Putin denied any involvement. This disagreement is "intractable," the secretary said, adding: "It’s too important to not find a way to move forward."

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Trump "accepted" Putin's claims that he didn't interfere in the election. However, an unnamed administration official told CNN that this was not accurate.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump and Putin had a cordial greeting in front of the press.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," Trump told reporters. "We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening, for Russia, for the United States, and for everyone concerned. It's an honor to be with you."

"We've spoken on the phone with you several times, on very important bilateral and international issues" Putin said through a translator. "But phone conversation is never enough, definitely."

He added: "I'm delighted to be able to meet you personally, Mr. President. And I hope, as you have said, our meeting will yield positive results."

Putin's comments seemed to suggest that the pair has never met previously. Trump's comments on this matter, however, have been contradictory. During an October 2015 radio interview with Michael Savage, Trump said he had met with Putin "a long time ago." At the first presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, however, Trump said: "“I don’t know Putin. I think it would be great if we got along with Russia because we could fight ISIS together, as an example. But I don’t know Putin.”

"I think I could see myself meeting with Putin and meeting with Russia prior to the start of the administration,” he said at the second debate. “I think it would be wonderful.”

Trump's rhetoric on Russia and Putin has been much softer than that of most other American politicians, and he has been hesitant to call out the Russian president for the country's human rights abuses or authoritarian tendencies. He has also refused to say definitively whether he believes Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, despite the decisive conclusions of the American intelligence community.

Photo by Steffen Kugler /BPA via Getty Images