Trump: 'Two Largest Nuclear Powers Must Get Along'

The two leaders at their first official meeting in Helsinki on Monday. (Image: PA)

Donald Trump has described the United States and Russia as "the world’s two largest nuclear powers" and stated his belief that the two nations "must get along".

The US President made the remarks via Twitter following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday.

Mr Trump also made reference to US intelligence agencies' finding that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election, repeating what he said during a news conference with Mr Putin that he has "great confidence" in the US government's intelligence staff, but stated he does not want to "exclusively focus on the past".

As he flew home to Washington aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump tweeted:

Standing next to the Russian leader yesterday, Mr Trump steered clear of any confrontation regarding election interference: "I will tell you that president Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.

"He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

Their meeting followed last week's announcement of new indictments against 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking Democratic emails to help the Trump campaign.

It had been the first official summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, lasting more than two hours, it involved a private face-to-face sitdown with just the leaders and their interpreters. 

During the 50-minute press conference, there was no mention of Russia's invasion of Ukraine nor the use of the toxic nerve agent Novichoc on British soil.