The outcome of Friday's first face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn't very encouraging, as media reports suggest.
Despite the meeting extending for more than its allotted time, many analysts were disappointed by its lack of relevance.
Here are five things you need to know about the meeting:
- Timing
In the beginning, their meeting was scheduled to last for about 30 minutes but it dragged on for more than two hours and even Melania Trump was not able to put an end to it.
- Cybersecurity
The two sides agreed to set up a working group on cybersecurity to address issues like the risk of cyber meddling in elections.
- 2016 presidential election
Rex Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, said Trump had begun the meeting by pressing Putin about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
"The president opened the meeting by raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in 2016 election. Putin denied such involvement, as he has done in the past," Tillerson said.
- Syria
Tillerson also announced that the U.S., Russia and Jordan have agreed to a ceasefire in Southwest Syria between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces.
- What's next for Trump-Putin?
Both the leaders would have measured eachother after their first encounter and it will be interesting to see whether the two will work together to convert the partial cease-fire into a durable solution to the Syrian civil war and bring pressure to bear on North Korea to halt its nuclear program.
