Putin Lauds Trump's Summit Performance, Hits Out at U.S. Critics

Russian President Vladimir Putin stood up for Donald Trump over his performance at their summit and hit out at U.S. critics of the meeting that he said helped ease tensions between their countries.

“Certain forces in America are trying to belittle and disavow the results of the meeting in Helsinki,” which was a success and produced useful agreements, Putin told a gathering of Russian ambassadors and Foreign Ministry officials in Moscow on Thursday. “We see there are forces that place their narrow group interests above those of the nation as a whole.”