(Image source from: The National)

The United States President Donald Trump blasted "U.S. foolishness and stupidity" for atrocious relations between Washington, D.C., and Moscow, hours before he was to sit down to a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian foreign ministry "liked" Trump's remarks on Twitter, which denounced the probe into Russian interfering in American elections as well as former U.S. policy.

"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!" wrote Trump.

The Kremlin said it did not anticipate much from the meeting but hoped it would be a "first step" to resolving a crisis in ties.

"Presidents Trump and Putin respect each other and they get along well," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "There is no clear agenda. It will be determined by the heads of state themselves as they go along."

Critics and Trump's own advisers have urged Trump to use the summit to press Putin hard about "malign" activities, from annexing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula to meddling in Western elections, to poisoning a spy in England, which Moscow denies.

During a repast meet with Finland's president Sauli Niinisto before the meeting with Putin in the Finnish capital, Trump appeared cheerful. Asked what he would say to Putin, Trump said: "We'll do just fine, thank you."

The two leaders will meet one-on-one with only interpreters, followed by a working lunch attended by advisers.

While Trump has been overseas since earlier this week, the special prosecutor investigating allegations that Russia interfered to aid him to win the 2016 presidential election charged 12 Russians on Friday for stealing Democratic Party documents.

The countries are expected to discuss the prospect of extending a nuclear disarmament treaty, and the war in Syria, where Russian-backed forces of President Bashar al-Assad have advanced in the south of the country in recent weeks despite a ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Washington under Trump.

The summit caps a trip abroad during which Trump sternly criticized NATO allies for failing to spend enough on their militaries and embarrassed British Prime Minister Theresa May by saying she refused to take his advice about how to negotiate Britain's exit from the EU. He referred to the European Union itself as a "foe" in trade and repeatedly criticized it.

In some of the strongest words yet reflecting the unease of Washington's traditional allies, Germany's foreign minister said on Monday Europe could not rely on Trump.

"We can no longer completely rely on the White House," Heiko Maas told the Funke newspaper group. "To maintain our partnership with the USA we must readjust it. The first clear consequence can only be that we need to align ourselves even more closely in Europe."

By Sowmya Sangam