Trump says Biden ‘gave a very big stage to Russia’ at Putin summit

Former president who defended Russia on the issue of election interference says successor ‘got nothing’ in Geneva

Donald Trump has accused Joe Biden of giving a “very big stage to Russia” after the two leaders came face-to-face for talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr Trump, who at times failed to challenge his Russian counterpart as US president, told Fox News that Mr Biden “got nothing” from the meeting on Wednesday.

“We did not get anything,” he told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in a wide-ranging interview. “We gave a very big stage to Russia, and we got nothing”.

Mr Biden told reporters he had a “good, positive” talk with Mr Putin, who was warned of interfering in US elections again.

The issue was at the centre of Mr Trump’s first summit with Mr Putin four years ago in Helsinki, Finland, when Mr Trump defended Russia.

After a reporter challenged Mr Putin on the issue interfering in the 2016 election, and an investigation into Russia’s connections to Trump’s campaign, the former president told the world’s press: “I have president Putin; he just said it’s not Russia”.

Mr Trump, who added that his counterpart was “strong and powerful”, was immediately accused of "treasonous" behaviour by members of his own party, including the late GOP senator John McCain.

“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,” said Mr McCain, who said it was “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”

Mr Biden, on Wednesday, avoided a joint press conference with Mr Putin – in an apparent bid to stop the Russian president from having a bigger platform.

Mr Putin told reporters the two leaders had a “constructive” talk, with relations between the US and Russia currently at historic lows.