A day ahead of his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump wouldn’t say Friday whether he favors lifting sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and meddling in the U.S. presidential election.
At his first news conference, Mr. Trump said it was “very early to be talking about that.”
“If we can have a great relationship with Russia and with China and with all countries, I’m all for that,” he said. “That would be a tremendous asset.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who held her first meeting with Mr. Trump, said Britain believes “the sanctions should continue” until we Moscow honors an agreement to cease hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine.
As for Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump said, “I don’t say good, bad or indifferent. I don’t know the gentleman. I hope we have a fantastic relationship. That’s possible and it’s also possible that we won’t. We will see what happens.”
He said he hopes the U.S. can forge a partnership with Russia to defeat the Islamic State.
“How the relationship works out, I won’t be able to tell you that [until] later,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ve had many times where I thought I’d get along with people and I don’t like them at all.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.