President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet July 16 in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the two governments announced Thursday.
"The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia and a range of national security issues," the White House said.
Those issues include the civil war in Syria, Russian aggression in Ukraine, North Korea's nuclear weapons.
The meeting takes a place in the midst of a U.S. investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including links between the Russians and Trump associates.
Trump has denounced the investigation as a hoax, doing so again Thursday on Twitter, accepting Putin's claim that Russia was not involved.
"Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" Trump tweeted while urging investigators to look at the Democrats instead.
This will be the first formal one-on-one summit between Trump and Putin. The two met on the sidelines of economic conference last year in Germany and Vietnam, and have spoken on the phone.
National Security Adviser John Bolton worked out scheduling details during meetings with Putin and other Russian officials Thursday in Moscow.
"I think we'll be talking about Syria," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. "I think we'll be talking about Ukraine. I think we'll be talking about many other subjects. And we'll see what happens. So you never know."
Asked if Russian election activity will be one of those subjects, Trump said: "You never know about meetings, what happens. Right? But I think a lot of good things can come with meetings with people."
Trump also meets with his Russian counterpart during a Europe trip that includes a NATO summit in Brussels.
The U.S. president is at odds with NATO, saying members are not contributing enough to the mutual defense alliance; NATO members fear Trump will undercut western unity in confronting Russian aggression, from its incursion into Urkraine to cyber attacks.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara
