Trump describes meeting with Putin as one of his ‘best meetings ever’

US President Donald Trump described the Helsinki meeting with his Russian counterpart as one of his ‘best meetings ever’ in a speech to his supporters broadcast live by US TV channels.

"One of my best meetings ever was with Vladimir Putin," he said. "We had a great meeting, we talked about Ukraine, we talked about Syria, we talked about the protection of Israel. We talked about so many great things."

Commenting on criticism of being too soft with the Russian leader, Trump said: "they wanted me to have a boxing match on a stage."