Trump and Putin discussed cooperation on terror in Syria

Vladimir PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Telephone meeting

The war in Syria was one of the themes that Presidents Donald John Trump and Vladimir Putin talked about in a telephone meeting described as very successful according to the White House in Washington, District of Columbia.

 

Trump and Putin discussed Tuesday’s cooperation in the fight against terror in Syria, the Kremlin stated, according to Russian news agency Tass. Both agreed that the war in Syria has lasted “far too long”.

The phone call was very successful, according to a press statement from the American Presidential Residence.

The two presidents supposedly also have agreed to try to get a personal meeting in connection with the G20 meeting in Hamburg in July.

In addition, Trump and Putin talked about collaborating on a diplomatic process in North Korea, the Kremlin states.

Tuesday’s phone call is the first known conversation between the two presidents since the US’ massive bomb attack on a Syrian air base on April 13. In Moscow, the attack was perceived as a provocation.

However, Trump and Russian President have spoken on the phone two times earlier after Trump was appointed president, including a talk after the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg on April 4, that Trump condemned.

Trump has recently stated that the relationship between the United States and Russia is probably at its worst ever.

The statement is in stark contrast to the rhetoric of his election campaign, where Trump said he hoped that he and Putin would co-operate in the fight against terrorism.

Syria was also one of the most important issues when US Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rex Tillerson, met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow this April.

Tillerson then emphasized that the relationship between the two countries was flawed by serious distrust.

The two foreign ministers agreed that it is important to improve the dialogue between the United States and Russia, especially regarding disagreements about Syria and what is needed to end the six-year civil war.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today