US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have met for the first time, shaking hands at the start of a G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
They will hold a longer meeting later, and say they want to repair ties damaged by a crises including Russia’s alleged meddling in the US election.
Climate change and trade are set to dominate the two-day summit, with mass protests in the streets.
Clashes at a “Welcome to Hell” rally left 76 police officers injured.
“We are all aware of the great global challenges,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her summit opening statement.
“We know that time is short and therefore solutions very often can only be found if we are ready to compromise and work together without bending over backwards too much because, of course, we can express different views on some issues.”
They have both said they want to repair ties damaged by the crises in Syria and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S election, the BBC reports.
Climate change and trade are set to dominate as the two-day summit opens, with mass protests in the streets.
Clashes at a “Welcome to Hell” rally left 76 police officers injured.
By choosing to hold the summit in Hamburg, Germany’s northern hi-tech powerhouse, Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking to show mass protests can be tolerated in an open democracy, the BBC says.
The G20, or Group of 20, is a summit for 19 countries, both developed and developing, plus the European Union.
The individual countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the US.
The two leaders are due to meet in the afternoon for an hour, Russian media say, though other reports suggest it could be about 30 minutes.
It is unclear if they will speak to reporters afterwards or to what extent media will be admitted to the meeting.
After phone calls between the leaders in January and May, the White House and Kremlin released summaries of the conversations.