HELSINKI -- President Donald Trump says the United States and Russia must find ways to "cooperate in pursuit of shared interests."

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Cold War between the countries is over and that the U.S. and Russia need to solve problems together.

The presidents were in Helsinki, Finland, for their one-on-one meeting.

Putin says the "so-called Russian interference" in the U.S. 2016 presidential election was brought up by President Donald Trump during their summit in Helsinki.

Speaking at a joint news conference, Putin said: "Once again, President Trump mentioned the issue of the so-called interference of Russia with the American elections. And I had to reiterate things I said several times that the Russia state has never interfered, and is not going to interfere, into internal American affairs, including the election process.

Trump said a productive dialogue between the U.S. and Russia is good for both countries and "is good for the world." He also addressed the election controversy.

"During today's meeting I addressed directly with President Putin the issue of Russian interference in our elections. I felt this was a message best delivered in person. I spent a great deal of time talking about it," Trump said.

Trump adds that relations between the U.S. and Russia have never been worse. He adds that he thinks that "changed as of about four hours ago." He says he's sure that he and Putin will meet again often in the future.

DAY STARTED WITH TWEET

Before meeting with Putin, Trump tweeted about the relationship between Russia and the U.S.

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

Many Democrats were critical of that tweet since the president did not give Russia any of the blame.

That criticism only grew when Russia foreign ministry responded with, "We agree."

It should be noted that the Obama administration did take action and then-President Barack Obama did confronted Putin in person and ousted almost three dozen Russian diplomats that U.S. officials claimed were intelligence operatives. The Obama administration also imposed new sanctions. 

Many were curious to see if the two presidents would discuss hot button issues on Russia's support of the Syrian government, their annexation of Crimea, or election meddling during their one-on-one.   

Their meeting was days after the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking Democrats' emails.

MEETING SURROUNDED BY CONTROVERSY

Both Republicans and Democratic lawmakers wanted the president to drop out of the summit. 

The calls to cancel the meeting came largely from Democrats, with the exception of Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain.   

Those lawmakers felt meeting would undermine the investigation into Russia's alleged role in the 2016 election. 

Trump arrived at the presidential palace in Helsinki at 1 p.m. (6 a.m. EST).  

Ahead of his arrival, protesters took to the streets in Finland, but their target was not just against Trump.

The protesters said they were there to speak out against the policies of both presidents.  

Spectrum News Reporter Deborah Souverain and the Associated Press contributed to this story.