Russian
President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to try to
rebuild U.S-Russia ties and to cooperate in Syria, the Kremlin said, after the
two men spoke for the first time since Trump’s inauguration.
U.S.-Russia
relations hit a post-Cold War low under the Barack Obama administration and
Trump has made clear he wants a rapprochement with Moscow if he can get along
with Putin, who says he is also keen to mend ties.
“Both sides
demonstrated a mood for active, joint work on stabilising and developing
Russian-American cooperation,” the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that
Putin and Trump had agreed to work on setting up their first meeting.
“The chat
took place in a positive and business-like tone.”
Trump’s
stance on Russia has been under intense scrutiny from critics who say he was
elected with help from Russian intelligence agencies, a charge he denies. His
detractors have also accused him of being too eager to make an ally of Putin.
For Putin,
who faces possible re-election next year, an easing of U.S. sanctions imposed
on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis would be a major coup.
But the
Kremlin made no mention of the subject being discussed, referring only to the
two underlining the importance of
restoring mutually-beneficial trade and economic ties.
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