Our relationship which was worse, now changed: Trump to Putin

US President Donald Trump, speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, admitted that the relationship between the two countries 'has never been worse' - before adding 'but that changed as of about four hours ago', the Daily Mail reported today.

“We've all been foolish... we've both made mistakes' and that today's summit at the Finnish Presidential Palace was just the beginning of a process of restoring ties, It is in the interest of both of our countries to continue our conversation and we have agreed to do so,”. Trump said, having earlier shot a wink at the Kremlin strongman.

Putin, meanwhile, said he completely trusts Donald Trump and that the feeling was mutual. He said the US and Russia needed to solve problems together and that Moscow was ready for intelligence cooperation with America on terrorism and cyber threats.

In a lighthearted moment, Putin gave Trump a soccer ball from the 2018 World Cup to symbolise North America hosting the tournament in 2026. The US President said his son would like the gift and threw it into the audience - apparently to his wife Melania.

The Russian leader once again denied his country interfered in the 2016 US elections saying that Trump brought the matter up during their talks. U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Kremlin acted to influence the vote, in which Trump won over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

“I had to repeat that the Russian state never interfered, and does not plan to interfere in internal American electoral process," Putin said, describing the claims as 'complete nonsense'.

He also hailed the 'successful' cooperation between Russian and US security services insisting: 'We are in favour of continuing cooperation in the sphere of the fight against terror and ensuring cyber security.'

Agreeing on the need for increased cooperation Trump said: 'If we are going to solve many of the problems facing our world, we will have to find ways to cooperate.'

He said he had discussed a wide range of critical issues for both countries, including the war in Syria, Iran, global terrorism and nuclear arms control. He also addressed the issue of alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections, he said.

“We made the first steps towards a brighter future, grounded on cooperation and peace,' he said.’Refusing to engage will not accomplish anything,” he said.