"I would merely refer you to the way that President Obama has described his relationship with President Putin on some previous occasions. He's described their relationship as 'business-like,' and he's indicated an ability and a willingness on the part of President Putin to speak bluntly, and that includes when there are areas of difference," Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said during a press briefing.
Although both leaders do not always see eye to eye and often differ greatly in their assessment of global affairs, "there have been some areas where we’ve been able to coordinate quite effectively with the Russians, and this international effort to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is probably the most significant of those," Earnest added.
The White House hardly convinced Trump, who is currently leading in the crowded field of GOP candidates vying for the top job in the US. After all, "business-like" relations are not something the billionaire might be looking for.
While in Scotland, Trump said that he would "get along very well with Vladimir Putin" without elaborating. On Friday, he also said that Crimea, a major point of contention in the bilateral relations, was "Europe's problem."
"Let me explain first of all — this is Europe's problem much more than ours, OK? And Europe isn't complaining as much as we are," the billionaire told CNN, adding that Germany could take the lead on dealing with the issue. "Everything the United States — we're like the policeman of the world," Trump noted.
Crimea decided to split from Ukraine and join Russia after a March 2014 referendum, in which over 96 percent of the region's population backed the move.
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