Trump says second Putin meeting lasted 15 minutes

President Trump on Wednesday described his second recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as an exchange of “pleasantries” that lasted about “15 minutes.”

The meeting, which took place following a first, formal meeting between the two world leaders at the G-20 summit, was not acknowledged by the White House until Tuesday.

{mosads}

Reports said the private conversation lasted for more than an hour and was only attended by Putin’s translator.

“It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes,” Trump told The New York Times. “Just talked about things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption. … Interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don had in that meeting.”

The White House claims another recently disclosed meeting between the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. and several people with ties to Russia also revolved around adoption.

U.S. adoptions of Russian children were banned by Moscow in retaliation for human rights sanctions.

At the G-20 dinner for leaders and spouses where Trump and Putin spoke, Putin was seated next to first lady Melania Trump.

“I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin,” Trump said. He said the exchange occurred near dessert.

The White House has pushed back on repots the administration sought to “hide” the second meeting with Putin as “false, malicious and absurd.”

However, steady revelations of private meetings between Trump administration officials and Russian officials has intensified concerns amid ongoing FBI and congressional probes into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.