Putin, Trump discuss coordination of actions in fight against terrorism

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with U.S. President Donald Tramp on May 2 for the first time after the U.S. launched a missile strike in Syria.

A wide range of current issues regarding the two countries’ cooperation in the international arena was discussed, with an emphasis on future coordination of Russian and US actions to fight international terrorism in the context of the Syrian crisis, Kremlin’s press service reported.

The presidents agreed to intensify the dialogue between the heads of the two nations’ foreign policy agencies in order to find ways to stabilize the ceasefire and make it durable and manageable.

“The aim is to create preconditions for launching a real settlement process in Syria,” the message said.

To that end, the Russian Foreign Minister and the U.S. Secretary of State should promptly brief the countries’ leaders on any progress achieved.

The dangerous situation on the Korean Peninsula was also touched upon in conversation. Putin called for restraint and an easing of tensions. The sides decided to organize joint work aimed at achieving diplomatic solutions and a comprehensive settlement of the problem.

Putin and Trump further agreed to continue their telephone contacts and spoke in favor of arranging a personal meeting during the G20 Summit in Hamburg scheduled for July 7–8.

The Kremlin press service stresses that the conversation "was of a businesslike and constructive nature."

Tensions between the two countries hit a high last month after a suspected chemical attack in Syria killed over 80 people, including children. The White House blamed Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar Assad for the attack. Damascus vehemently rejected the accusations and said militants and their allies were responsible.

Trump said after the cruise missile attack that the United States' relationship with Moscow "may be at an all-time low." U.S. leader also stated that he's hopeful he can improve relations with Putin but "we're going to see what happens."

Putin also underlined that the level of trust with Washington under U.S. President Donald Trump degraded.

Following the attack, the meeting between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin was held in order to reduce tensions arising from situation in Syria. However, this meeting was used by two sides to reassert their firm stances on Syria rather than coming to a common compromise, according to experts.