MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Russian military hope the July 16 summit meeting in Helsinki between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will give an impetus of the broadening of defense cooperation between the two countries, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"We hope the Russia-US summit in Helsinki will give an impetus to the broadening of our defense cooperation with Washington and NATO countries and will help consolidate the efforts of on both sides in the interests of our common security," he said.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held talks in Helsinki on July 16. This was their first full-fledged summit meeting since Trump’s election for the presidential office in November 2016. Prior to it, the two Presidents had contacts only on the sidelines of multilateral meetings.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said later Trump had instructed his national security advisor John Bolton to issue an invitation to Putin to visit Washington this autumn.