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Vladimir Putin has admitted he wanted Donald Trump to win the 2016 election as the US President suggested he believed his Russian counterpart over his own intelligence services.

Mr Putin said he had offered to send investigators to help the US probe into possible meddling in the presidential election – as he reiterated his denial of Kremlin involvement.

In an extraordinary press conference, Mr Trump said he had “great confidence” in the US security services - who have all concluded Russia did interfere in the election - but added that president Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial”.

Speaking after their summit, Mr Trump said the Russian collusion investigation has been a "disaster" for the US and has kept America and Russia "separated".

He reiterated that there had been "no collusion" between his campaign and the Russian government.

“So I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that president Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," he said.

Mr Putin said of the collusion claims that there is "no evidence when it comes to the actual facts."

He added: “The Russian government would never interfere in the domestic affairs of the US, including their elections.”

When asked if he wanted Mr Trump to defeat Hillary Clinton in the election, he said: "Yes, I did, because he wanted to normalise relations with Russia."

Mr Trump hailed his first official summit with Mr Putin and said the US and Russia will now work together to tackle global problems including terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

The US president said the disagreements between the two counties are “well known” and that the two leaders discussed them at length in a one-on-one meeting which lasted more than two hours.

“Our relationship has never been worse than it is now,” he said. “However, that changed about four hours ago.

“We are going to have to find ways to cooperate in pursuit of shared interests.”

Mr Trump added that the two countries have taken the first step towards a relationship that will be for “the greater good of all”.

Russian president Mr Putin described the talks as “successful and useful”, but admitted their “positions did not coincide on all questions”.

He said: “On the whole we are content with the results of our meeting. Hopefully we now understand each other better.

“Of course many problems remain and we have failed to clear all obstacles. It was impossible to do that in the first meeting but we have made an important first step in that direction.”

The press conference was delayed after a journalist with a sign that said “nuclear weapon ban treaty” was dragged out of the room by security.

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It is believed he was planning to hold up the sign in order to get the leaders’ attention and ask a question.

The high stakes summit in Helsinki began shortly after 2pm, after the Russian president arrived around 50 minutes late.

As they sat feet apart in front of a room full of cameras and reporters at the Finnish presidential palace, Mr Trump appeared to wink at Mr Putin.

He then began by praising Russia for hosting one of the “best ever” World Cups and said he wanted to form good relations between their two nations.

Mr Putin said he and Mr Trump have maintained regular contact by phone and meeting at international events, but "the time has come to have a thorough discussion on various international problems and sensitive issues".

The two leaders then went off for a private meeting, with only translators present. The White House had scheduled 90 minutes for that meeting, but it lasted more than two hours.

Coupled with Mr Putin’s late arrival, it meant the leaders had a very late lunch.

Mr Trump was joined at the lunch by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman and other top aides.

The US president described the day’s discussions as a “good start, a very good start for everybody” while at the lunch.

Even before Mr Trump and Mr Putin sat down on Monday, Russia's government signalled that the two leaders are on the same page.

Russia's foreign ministry tweeted "we agree" in reaction to Mr Trump's morning tweet criticising US "foolishness and stupidity" for the state of relations between the two countries.

Mr Trump's tweet said: "Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!"

The US leader has promised to raise Russian election meddling with Mr Putin, but he did not do so publicly when he discussed the agenda as they first met at the presidential palace in Helsinki.