Tillerson: Trump pressed Putin on election interference

U.S. President Donald Trump began his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday by expressing concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Putin denied Russia had anything to do with several high-profile hacking incidents and the proliferation of news stories designed to make Trump opponent Hillary Clinton look bad. Russia’s foreign minister said Trump accepted Putin’s assurances. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Putin asked for proof of Russia’s interference. Tillerson also said Trump is focused on moving forward from an “intractable disagreement.” Putin described the meeting as a long conversation about “many issues” that have piled up, Ukraine and Syria among them. He also said he and Trump discussed “fighting terrorism and cybersecurity.” The anticipated 30-minute meeting took much longer than expected, making Putin late for his one-on-one with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The world leaders are attending the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.