Vladimir Putin said
on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not divulged any
secrets during a meeting in Washington with Russian officials and
offered to prove it by supplying Congress with a transcript.
Two U.S. officials said on Monday Trump had
disclosed classified information about a planned Islamic State operation
to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when they met last week,
plunging the White House into a fresh controversy just four months into
Trump's tenure.
Trump, whose
administration has been dogged by allegations that Russia helped him win
the White House and that he and his allies are too cozy with Moscow,
has defended his decision to discuss intelligence with the Russians
after media reports of the meeting alarmed some U.S. and foreign
politicians.
President Putin
deployed his trademark sarcasm on Wednesday to make clear he thought the
accusation that Trump had divulged secrets absurd.
"I
spoke to him (Lavrov) today," a smiling Putin told a news conference
with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in the Russian Black Sea
resort of Sochi.
"I'll be forced to
issue him (Lavrov) with a reprimand because he did not share these
secrets with us. Not with me, nor with representatives of Russia's
intelligence services. It was very bad of him."
Putin,
who still hopes Moscow can repair battered ties with the United States
despite a deepening political scandal in the United States related to
Trump's purported Russia ties, said Moscow had rated Lavrov's meeting
with Trump highly.
But a leading U.S. Republican politician (no name supplied by Reuters) said he would have little faith in any notes Putin might supply.
Read more: Putin offers transcript to prove Trump did not pass Russia secrets | Reuters
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