PRESS RELEASE
Trump, Putin Discuss Syria, North Korea, Possible Meeting
May 2, 2017 (EIRNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a "business-like" telephone conversation, today, during which they discussed how to promote diplomatic progress in both Syria and North Korea.
"Vladimir Putin has called for restraint and decreasing of the level of tensions" on the Korean peninsula, the Kremlin statement said as reported by RT. "It has been agreed to work jointly on a diplomatic solution that will settle the crisis."
On Syria, the two presidents have decided to
"activate the dialogue between the heads of the foreign ministries of both countries [Tillerson and Lavrov] who will seek variants to secure the ceasefire regime, stabilize it and control it,"
the statement says.
"The goal is to create the background that would help launch a real peace process in Syria. This means that Russia’s foreign minister and the U.S. secretary of state would inform their leaders about progress in this regard."
The White House statement reported that the two leaders agreed that "all parties must do all they can to end the violence" in Syria and that Trump and Putin also discussed working together against Islamic militants throughout the Middle East.
"The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons,"
it said.
Trump and Putin also spoke in favor of organizing a face-to-face meeting around the time of the G20 summit in Hamburg in July, according to the Kremlin statement.
This call, the first since Trump was induced to attack a Syrian airfield based on false intelligence from the British, should make it possible for Trump to return to his original intention to work closely with Russia in the war on terrorism.
