Putin phones Trump and they agree to fight terrorism and ‘normalise’ relations

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump spoke over the phone Monday to discuss future efforts to improve the U.S.-Russian ties, the Kremlin and Trump’s office said.

“President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia,” Trump’s office said in a statement.

The Kremlin, in a far more specific and longer readout, said that Putin congratulated Trump on his victory and expressed Russia’s readiness to “establish a partner-like dialogue with the new administration on the basis of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in domestic relations.”

Trump’s office said that Putin called him to “offer his congratulations on winning a historic election.”

“During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical US-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years,” it said.

In its readout, the Kremlin added that both Putin and Trump agreed that the US-Russian ties are in “extremely unsatisfactory” condition now.

“They spoke for active joint work to normalise ties and engage in constructive co-operation on a broad range of issues,” it said, adding that Putin and Trump emphasised the need to develop trade and economic co-operation to give a strong basis to US-Russia relations.