MOSCOW
The Finnish capital Helsinki is set to host a much-anticipated summit meeting on July 16 between the Russian and U.S. leaders, the Kremlin said Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump will discuss the current state and prospects for bilateral cooperation, the Kremlin said on its official website.
The White House confirmed the planned meeting in a statement in which it said the leaders would also address "a range of national security issues".
That is set to include discussion of Ukraine and Syria, Trump said Wednesday. Russia is propping up separatists in Ukraine's east and occupying the Crimean Peninsula, which the U.S. has opposed in addition to Russian support for the Syrian regime.
Meanwhile, Trump, in a Twitter post preceding Thursday's formal announcement, appeared to cast doubt on the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies who determined the Kremlin worked to influence the 2016 White House race in his favor.
"Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" Trump said. "Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!"
The tweet came just over thirty minutes before the White House publicly acknowledged Trump's bilateral with Putin, and was followed by another tweet in which he repeated his refrain that neither he nor his campaign cooperated with Moscow in the campaign to undercut Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton.
The matter is currently being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Bloomberg reported he is seeking to wrap up his investigation, and possibly produce indictments, by this Fall.
Trump will meet the Russian leader just days after he sits down with NATO leaders in Brussels July 11-12. Trump has worsened relations with his close transatlantic allies amid trade spats and public calls for them to increase their defense spending as he seeks to improve dire ties with Moscow.
*Michael Hernandez contributed to this story from Washington
