REUTERS

President of the United States Donald Trump at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the first ever summit of the two leaders in Helsinki chose to show caution, avoiding the Ukraine issue, according to Mykola Kapitonenko, an associate expert at the International Center for Advanced Studies.

The expert told Apostrophe that Trump could choose to remain silent on Ukraine, while Putin spoke only briefly on the issue, because he had been convinced to do so by his own administration.

"After some vague hints on Crimea, I think Trump's team convinced him that with the Ukraine issue is better to address with caution in order not to make concessions to the Kremlin," Kapitonenko said.

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"Besides, he's less interested in this topic than, say, in the spread of nuclear weapons or the war in Syria," suggested the expert.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Vladimit Putin at the same press conference confirmed that Donald Trump's position on Crimea is that the Ukrainian peninsula has been annexed illegally.