Jan. 27 (UPI) — U. S. President Donald Trump will speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time since assuming office a week ago, both countries confirmed Friday.
Trump and Putin will speak by phone Saturday , according to multiple media reports. Trump has begun holding initial calls and meetings with world leaders since becoming president. He hosted British Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington on Friday. He is scheduled to host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau next week and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged a White House visit in the near future.
But Trump’s relationship with Putin is likely to be more closely watched than any single world leader. Trump initially refused to say it was Russia, at Putin’s direction, that was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton ‘s campaign chairman, John Podesta. Even after the U. S. intelligence community came forward with a report saying it was highly probable Russia was behind the effort to help Trump win, Trump did not initially agree with the findings.
Trump has since said he believes Russia was, in fact, behind the hacking and promised they would stop once he became president.
The FBI has opened an investigation into any potential ties between Trump, his campaign and the Russian government, though it remains unclear who or what is the focus of the probe.
The intelligence community, as part of its report on Russian electoral interference, also acknowledged the unconfirmed possibility the Russian government holds personally damaging evidence about Trump himself — a claim Trump and the Russian government vigorously denied .
