Putin and Trump discuss international issues in businesslike manner - Kremlin

Moscow, November 21. /TASS/. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Trump of the U.S. had a telephone conversation on Tuesday they had arranged earlier, discussing key issues on the international agenda. The presidents expressed satisfaction with the conversation that the Kremlin press service called "businesslike and meaningful". Syrian issue The presidents "discussed substantially the topical Syrian issue given the ending military operation to destroy terrorists in Syria," the Kremlin informed. "Putin stressed readiness to facilitate a durable political settlement process in Syria on the basis of the UN Security Council's Resolution 2254 in the spirit of agreements reached in the Astana format and provisions of the Joint Statement the two Presidents endorsed on November 11 at the APEC summit in Vietnam," it reported. "The sides stated among other things that the statement had produced an encouraging reaction in the Middle East," it said. The interlocutors also mentioned the importance of maintaining Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. This should be done in the groundwork of principles to be mapped out in the course of pan-Syrian negotiations and Russia's initiative for convening the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi later this year targets exactly this objective, the press service said. Putin informed Trump about the main results of a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on November 20, at which the Syrian leader confirmed commitment to a political process, the holding of a constitutional reform as well as presidential and parliamentary elections. Besides, coming into the focus were the upcoming three-party talks of the Russian, Iranian and Turkish presidents due in Sochi on November 22, where the leaders plan to coordinate moves towards normalization of the situation and different aspects of political settlement in Syria, the press service said. In a broader context, the Russian president once again spoke in favor of joint work with the US on the antiterrorist trajectory, noting practical importance of coordinating efforts between the two countries’ intelligence agencies. The Kremlin said the US president had supported this view. Minsk-2 has no alternative President Vladimir Putin said in the phone call that there is no real alternative to unconditional compliance with the Minsk agreements, the Kremlin press service said. "Speaking of a crisis situation in the southeast of Ukraine, the Russian president drew attention to the absence of a real alternative to unconditional compliance with the Minsk accords of February 12, 2015," the report said. North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran The Russian and U.S. presidents also discussed the situation around North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran’s nuclear program. The sides "also exchanged opinions on the situation on the Korean peninsula, stressing the expedience of search for the settlement of the problem through negotiations, diplomatically," the press service said. "The leaders touched upon the situation in Afghanistan, which raises concerns in view of growing terrorist and drug threats. They also discussed the situation around Iran’s nuclear program," the report said. The Russian side emphasized commitment "to a full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - a major factor in ensuring regional stability and settlement of the problem of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction". Read more