Trump, Putin discuss Syrian crisis, Korean Peninsula over phone call

Washington, May 3 (IANS) US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian crisis and "the very dangerous situation" on the Korean Peninsula.

"The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of de-escalation to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons," said a White House statement on Tuesday, adding that they also discussed "at length working together" to fight terrorism across the Middle East.

The US would send a representative to the cease-fire talks in Astana, Kazakhstan on May 3-4, Xinhua news agency cited the statement.

Meanwhile according to a statement from the Kremlin, both leaders also agreed to intensify the dialogue between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries on the search for options that help consolidate the ceasefire regime in Syria.

"The goal is to create prerequisites for launching a real settlement process in Syria," it added.

It was the first phone call between Trump and Putin since Washington and Moscow wrangled over a US strike on the Syrian government last month.

On April 6, Trump ordered a targeted missile strike at a Syrian military airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun.

After the US strike, Syrian state TV called the assault an "aggression" and both Russia and Syria had denied that the Syrian government launched the chemical weapons attack.

The Russian government also condemned the US strike against the Syrian government as "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law".

After the incident, Trump told reporters last month that the US is "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low".