President of the United States Donald Trump said he would discuss the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons at an upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16.
"We go into the meeting with Putin following the tremendous NATO meeting. It was testy at the beginning, but then everyone agreed to come together and the U.K. fully adhered to it. We left that meeting more unified and wealthier as a group than ever before. So we go in strong. We will talk about a number of things: Ukraine, Syria, the Middle East, nuclear proliferation," he said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Chequers, England, on Friday, July 13.
"We are massively modernizing and fixing and buying and it's just a devastating technology. It is a very bad policy. We have no choice. We are massively big and they are very big and I'll be talking about nuclear proliferation," he said.
Read alsoPoroshenko unveils issues discussed with Trump
"I will absolutely bring up 'meddling.' Hopefully we will have a very good relationship with Russia, China and other countries," he said.
Speaking about his expectations from the meeting with Putin, Trump said: "I was telling the PM that I'm not going in with high expectations. We have stupidity going on in the U.S. that makes it hard to do something with Russia. People say 'he loves Russia' – I love the U.S. I love China and I love other countries. I will bring up Syria, Ukraine and other countries."
Trump said the United States has been "very strong on Russia. "If I had a relationship with Russia or with China, it would be good. If we get along with countries, that's a good thing," he added.
"I think I would have a very good relationship with Putin if we spend time together. <...> I hope we can have a good relationship with Russia," he added.
