Putin says with a straight face that America and Russia should collaborate on cybersecurity

(Image credit: YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images)

published 16 July 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks the U.S. and Russia should work together on cybersecurity issues.

Following his meeting with President Trump on Monday, Putin commented on Russia's interference in the 2016 election. At a joint press conference, Putin said that Russia, of all countries, "favors the continued cooperation in counterterrorism and maintaining cybersecurity" on the world stage.

He also said that Trump brought up "the so-called interference of Russia with the American elections" during their closed-door meeting. "The Russian state has never interfered and is not going to interfere into internal American affairs, including the election process," claimed Putin. He admitted that U.S. and Russian "postures don't always dovetail," but called for collaboration to restore the relationship, which he said was tense for "no solid reason." The Russian president said that the two nations could work together on establishing peace in Syria, in addition to cybersecurity efforts, as a way to meet halfway and work on mutual interests.

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Trump said that he and Putin "spent a great deal of time talking about" Russian interference in the election and cybersecurity issues. "President Putin may very well want to address it and very strongly, because he feels very strongly about it, and he has an interesting idea," said Trump, not clarifying whether he accepted Putin's denial and not elaborating on Putin's "idea." The two leaders did not indicate any specific way in which they had considered collaborating on solving cybersecurity concerns.

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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

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