Before the start of his first summit with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said he hopes for an “extraordinary relationship” with Russia.

The Presidents of the US and Russia sat down today in Helsinki, Finland where they discussed topics including nuclear power and trade.

“We have discussions on everything from trade to military, to missiles, to nuclear, to China, we’ll be talking a little bit about China – our mutual friend President Xi,” said Trump to Putin.

“I think we have great opportunities together as two countries that frankly we have not been getting along very well for the last number of years. I’ve been here not too long but it is getting close to two years, but I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship. I’ve been saying, and I’m sure you’ve heard, over the years … that getting along with Russia is a good thing not a bad thing,” he added.

Both leaders arrived at the summit after an hour after it was due to begin. They did not discuss Syria, North Korea, the US election or Nato.

After their one-on-one meeting, The White House confirmed another bilateral meeting and a joint press conference.

The joint press conference will take place at around 4.50pm local time, (2.50pm BST).

Attending the bilateral will be the US ambassador to Russia, US secretary of state, White House chief of staff, the national security adviser, a Russia expert and Trump adviser and an interpreter.

Trump has he hopes to revive Russia-US relations, where he blamed poor relations “years of US foolishness and stupidity on and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt”.

In response, Russia’s foreign affairs ministry tweeted: “We agree.”