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Trump says Putin insulted by US election meddling claim

"He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election," the US leader said.
Mr Trump, who defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, said the allegations were a "Democratic hit job".
The US intelligence community concluded earlier that Russia had indeed tried to sway the poll in favour of Mr Trump.
The US justice department has appointed special investigator Robert Mueller to examine any possible collusion involving Mr Trump's team, and legal action has already been taken against several former aides.

What are the allegations against Russia?

Donald Trump listens as Hillary Clinton answers a question during presidential debate at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, U.S., October 9, 2016Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThe presidential campaign was fiercely contested
The contents of the emails, passed to Wikileaks and posted online, were embarrassing to the Democrats and shook up the presidential campaign, which ended in defeat for Hillary Clinton.
In addition to the Mueller inquiry, congressional committees have been set up to carry out their own investigations.
Relations between the US and Russia have been strained for years, with the Kremlin long accusing Washington of seeking to sway elections in Russia and other ex-Soviet states including Ukraine and Georgia.
While Russian hackers are widely suspected of involvement, there has been no conclusive link to the Kremlin.
Denying that Russia had tried to interfere last year by fostering contacts with Mr Trump's campaign, Mr Putin told reporters in Vietnam: "Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of a continuing domestic political struggle."

What does Mr Trump say to the allegations?

He said he believed Mr Putin had been "very insulted by" the allegations and that was "not a good thing" for America.
"He [Putin] said he didn't meddle," he added. "I asked him again."
Asked if he believed Mr Putin, he replied, "He is very, very strong in the fact that he didn't do it. You have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he has nothing to do with that. Now, you are not going to get into an argument, you are going to start talking about Syria and the Ukraine."
Presentational grey line

Trump out on a limb again

Aleem Maqbool, BBC News, Da Nang
Donald Trump once again goes against the findings of his own intelligence agencies.
Because although the US justice department is investigating the scale and nature of Russian interference in the election of 2016 (and any links to the Trump campaign), the American intelligence community has already long determined that Russia did, indeed, interfere.
Yet Mr Trump suggested this story was not only entirely fabricated by his political opponents, it might even be costing lives in Syria, because it is getting in the way of his relationship with the Russian president and hampering their ability to help solve the conflict together.
"People will die because of it, and it's a pure hit job, and it's artificially induced and that's a shame," he said.
It is hard to know what the president hopes to achieve with this type of rhetoric. The investigation goes on.
Presentational grey line

How did the two presidents get on in Vietnam?

Mr Trump and Mr Putin met for the first time in July at a G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg. In Da Nang they were seen chatting briefly on three occasions within 24 hours during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit.
However, they had no formal bilateral meeting, with Mr Putin blaming it on scheduling and protocol.

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