Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Donald Trump went “better than super,” Russia’s top diplomat has said.

The leaders’ summit in Helsinki was “fabulous”, declared foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, as the US president faced a storm of criticism in Washington.

The remarks, reported by Russian news agencies, summed up the mood in Mr Putin’s government after Mr Trump sided with the Kremlin over his own intelligence agencies by insisting there was “no reason” Russia would interfere in the US election.

While Moscow secured no major concessions during the meeting, the Russian media depicted Mr Putin as having “outmanoeuvred” his American counterpart.

“Trump has failed to dominate Putin,” wrote the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets said “a quiet, modest Trump had paled in comparison with Vladimir Putin. It’s clear that Putin outmanoeuvred the US president.”

During a press conference following Monday’s meeting, Mr Trump said he had been swayed by Mr Putin’s “strong, impressive denial” of meddling in the 2016 presidential vote.

The American leader said he saw “no reason” why Moscow would involve itself in the election, despite his own intelligence agencies’ conclusions to the contrary and the Russian president admitting he had wanted Mr Trump to win.

He nodded as Mr Putin dismissed accusations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin as “utter nonsense”.

Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Show all 16 1 /16 Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Reuters Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests An advert from Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat is on display in Helsinki Reuters Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump in a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump meets with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Mantyniemi, the official residence of the Finnish President EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests US, Finnish and Russian flags fly in front of the Presidential Palace in Helsinki EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A protester wears a mask featuring a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the so-called "Helsinki against Trump and Putin" demonstration on July 16, 2018, in the Finnish capital Helsinki. The US and Russian leaders opened an historic summit in Helsinki on Monday, with Donald Trump promising an "extraordinary relationship" and Vladimir Putin saying it was high time to thrash out disputes around the world. / AFP PHOTO / Jonathan NACKSTRANDJONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images JONATHAN NACKSTRAND AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Vladimir Putin gifts a football to President Trump at the press conference that followed their meeting AP Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Trump supporters hold banners during a demonstration in Helsinki AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests People protest for women's reproductive rights in Helsinki's Senate Square Reuters Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A crowd watches the motorcade transporting President Trump through Helsinki AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests Russian President Putin drives through Helsinki on his way to meet with President Trump EPA Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A man in the audience of the joint press conference holds up a sign sign that reads "NUCLEAR WEAPON BAN TREATY". REUTERS Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests A man is removed from the joint press conference in Helsinki. Security removed the man after he pulled out a sign that read "NUCLEAR WEAPON BAN TREATY". REUTERS Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump and Russia's President Putin sit for a working lunch in Finland's Presidential Palace AFP/Getty Trump in Helsinki: Putin meeting and protests President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Reuters

Mr Trump’s performance sparked outrage in Washington, where even some Republicans branded him “treasonous” and a former White House ethics chief called for his removal from office.

But for Moscow, the meeting was a propaganda victory and the opportunity to improve relations after years of US-Russia tensions.

Mr Putin sought to emphasise areas where Moscow and Washington could find some common ground, such as the Syrian crisis.

“This is the first important step towards establishing a political dialogue,” said Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Upper House of the Russian parliament.

Alexander Gabuev, of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, said Mr Putin had won over domestic audiences by pushing back against the election interference allegations.

“Nobody in Moscow who is realistic had any illusions that this one meeting can produce any breakthroughs,” said Mr Gabuev. “The hope was at least we can start talking to each other.”

The main result of the summit “is that it happened, despite the collapse that Russian-American relations are in,” Valery Garbuzov, head of the USA and Canada Institute in Moscow, told Komsomoskaya Pravda.