President Trump began his highly anticipated meeting Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the man believed to have ordered a campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election. It is Trump’s first face-to-face talk with the Russian leader.

The world was watching closely as the two met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit. It comes at a time of growing tensions over the increasingly assertive U.S. military role in Syria and ongoing concerns over Russian backing for rebels in Ukraine and increasing friction between the Kremlin and NATO.

But the mood was genial as Putin and Trump, sitting side by side, addressed reporters before the meeting.

“We’ve had some very very good talks. We’re going to have a talk now and obviously that will continue,” Trump said. “We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States and for everyone concerned.”