WASHINGTON: Working with countries like India, Russia and China is a good not bad thing, US President Donald Trump said today. He was responding to criticism of his desire to improve Washington's relationship with Moscow.
"Working with countries, whether it's Russia or China or India, or any of the countries that surround this world and encompass this world, is a very good thing. That's not a bad thing," he told reporters at a joint White House news conference with Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg.
Speaking about North Korea, President Trump said, "That should have never been my problem. It should have been a problem solved many years ago when it was much less dangerous. But it was given to me, along with a big mess of other things."
He blamed former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his presidential rival in 2016 elections, saying she "was not for a strong military". He went on to say that "Hillary, my opponent, was for windmills, and she was for other types of energy that don't have the same capacities at this moment certainly," he said.
President Trump also said it was a "lot better" to work with other countries. "We're working with China on North Korea. We're working with various other countries, and I think we're doing very well. We had a great talk, as you know and as you reported."
"We had a great talk this morning with President Moon (of South Korea), and I think that a lot of good things are happening. We're going to see what happens," the US president said.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Norway has a "very good" relationship with Russia. "As a neighbouring country we do day-to-day work on things that we have to solve for the people and the economic activity that is in that area, which is a fragile area for the whole world," she said.
Responding to a question on allegations of Russian interference in elections in European countries, Prime Minister Solberg said her government has found no such evidence in Norway.
"I think that it is up to every political system and countries to scrutinise and discuss their own political agenda in their countries. And I respect that very much and that this is an issue for American politics," she said.