Donald Trump said that it is a good thing if the two countries have great relationship
US President Donald Trump has said that he hopes to have a good relationship with Russia and that it could prove to be a good step towards world peace.
"I hope that we do have good relations with Russia. I say it loud and clear, I've been saying it for years. I think it's a good thing if we have great relationships, or at least good relationships with Russia," Trump told reporters at a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto yesterday.
"That's very important, and I believe someday that will happen. It's (Russia) a big country, it's a nuclear country, it's a country that we should get along with, and I think we will eventually get along with Russia," he said in response to a question.
Talking about Finland, Trump said, "Finland has been free of Russia, just about one of the few countries in the region that has been for 100 years. Russia has a lot of respect for Finland, so that's always good. But I think Finland is doing fine with Russia."
The US President hoped that the United States will someday be able to have a very good relationship with Russia. "I think that's very good for world peace and for other things," he added.
Niinisto said he discussed issued related to Russia with Trump. "We did discuss about Russia. In NATO meeting, a year ago approximately, it was stated by all NATO countries that with Russia you have to be deterrence, but you have to exercise dialogue too. These two-way elements have to be there," he said.
Talking about Afghanistan, Trump said the war-torn country has become a "modern-day frontier" between barbarism and civilisations and praised Finland for its efforts in the war against terrorism.