Trump 'accepts' Putin's election meddling denial, says Russia

Russian's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials of meddling in the U.S. election.

As per the CNN, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump raised the issue of Russia's alleged cyber-interference in the U.S. election at the beginning of their conversation.

"The President opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson.

"They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this," he added.

A White House official later indicated that Trump had not accepted Putin's assurances of not meddling in the 2016 election.

Lavrov, while briefing the reporters, said that the U.S. President accepted Putin's assurances.

"The issue of cyber security got a lot of attention, which is understandable. President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling - even though they cannot prove anything - the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections," said Lavrov.

Trump met Putin on Friday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.

Speaking to reporters in a brief photo-op before their bilateral meeting, the U.S. President said, "President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," reports the CNN.

He added, "We've had some very good talks. We're going to have a talk now, and obviously that will continue, but we look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, the United States and for everybody concerned. It's an honour to be with you."

To this, Putin responded: "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.