May 2, 2017 - World

Putin and Merkel's awkward press conference

Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool / AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin faced off in a terse joint press conference in Sochi ahead of this summer's G-20 summit in Hamburg, per Bloomberg.

The big topics: Ukraine and Russia's election meddling.

The split on Ukraine: Putin called the 2014 Ukrainian revolution — that pushed Russia's annexation of Crimea — a "coup d'etat," while Merkel said that Ukraine's current government "came to power through democratic means."

Putin on U.S. election interference: "Just gossip…We never interfere in the political life of other countries."

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