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Huckabee Sanders: Trump and Putin Discussed 'Sanctions Specific to Election Meddling'

July 10, 2017

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed sanctions "related to election meddling" during their meeting last week, refuting a tweet by Trump a day earlier.

Trump tweeted on Sunday that "sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin," adding that nothing would be done until the "Ukrainian & Syrian problems are solved!" The two met face-to-face at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on Friday.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/884027201804488704

A White House reporter, however, directly asked Sanders at Monday's White House press briefing if the two discussed sanctions at the G-20 summit.

"I do know that it was mentioned specifically. When you ask about sanctions, I know there's a little bit of a question there," Sanders said. "There were sanctions specific to election meddling that I believe were discussed but not beyond that."

She said she was not aware if Trump's views on sanctions toward Russia had changed as a result of their meeting.

Trump stated that he twice pressed Putin about election meddling by the Kremlin during their meeting and Putin denied it. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday that Trump did not believe Putin, but Trump also tweeted Sunday it was time to "move forward" with Russia.