Face to face

A telephone conversation held on Tuesday evening between the presidents of the United States and Russia Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, "did not lead to a breakthrough." It is reported by The Wall Street Journal with reference to an unnamed American official.

According to him, the telephone conversation lasted about 30 minutes and was initiated by Putin. The official added that during the conversation the breakthrough did not occur and the Trump administration is not sure that Moscow is serious about resolving the Syrian conflict.

The specific date of the personal meeting between Trump and Putin was not determined, the NBC channel said , citing the representative of the National Security Council, Michael Anton. He confirmed that the issue was rejected, but will still be worked out at the expert level.

According to the Kremlin’s press service, Putin and Trump, during a telephone conversation, discussed “a number of topical issues of cooperation”, including the prospects for coordinating the actions of Russia and the United States in the fight against terrorism in the context of the Syrian crisis, and the aggravated situation around the DPRK. The presidents "spoke out for continuing contacts by phone, as well as in favor of organizing a personal meeting" in binding to the G20 summit, which will be held in July in Hamburg.

On January 28, the first after Trum took the post of President of the United States his telephone conversation with Putin . “During the conversation on both sides, the mood was demonstrated to active joint work on stabilizing and developing Russian -American interaction on a constructive, equal and mutually beneficial basis,” the Kremlin’s press service said. “At the same time, the priority of unification of efforts in the fight against the main threat - international terrorism.” It is noted that the conversation "was held in a positive and business manner." The presidents agreed to maintain regular personal contacts.

On Tuesday in Sochi, Putin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel . This was the first personal conversation of the Russian president with the Western leader after a long period. Merkel called on Putin to use his influence to protect the rights of Russian witnesses Jehovah, as well as intervene in the situation with the persecution of representatives of the LGBT community in Chechnya, "to ensure the preservation of minority rights."