Russia's foreign minister claims Trump 'accepts' Putin's assurance that Russia didn't hack the election

Putin and Trump meet.
(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that President Trump raised the question of Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their two-hour conversation on Friday at the G-20 summit. Moscow and the White House will set up a joint working group on cybersecurity as a result of that conversation, NPR's Lucian Kim reports. Kim added that Lavrov said "Trump … heard Putin's statements that Russia didn't hack [the] election and accepts them," although U.S. officials are already disputing that characterization.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was present at the meeting along with Lavrov, also had a different interpretation of the conversation. "They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject [of the election hacking]," Tillerson said. "The president pressed President Putin, on more than one occasion, regarding Russian involvement. President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the past. The two leaders agreed that this is a substantial hindrance ... "

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.