The Kremlin said that Trump had phoned Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his victory in Sunday's presidential election and that the two men had spoken about setting up a possible high-level meeting.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump had phoned Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his victory in Sunday's presidential election and that the two men had spoken about setting up a possible high-level meeting.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Trump had agreed on the need to work together to curb a possible arms race and spoken of the need to cooperate to ensure strategic stability and fight international terrorism.
It said they had also discussed Syria, Ukraine and North Korea, and spoken about strengthening economic links between the two countries.
The White House on Monday said his re-election victory was no surprise.
Spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters on Air Force One, which was carrying Trump to New Hampshire, that the United States will work with Russia where it can.
"We will work to cultivate the relationship with Russia and we will impose costs when Russia threatens our interests, but we will also look for places to work together when it serves our interests," Gidley said.
"We're not surprised by the outcome," he said of the Russian election.
Putin basked in a landslide re-election victory on Monday, extending his rule over the world's largest country for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory.
Putin's victory will take his political dominance of Russia to nearly a quarter of a century until 2024, the longest rule since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, by which time Putin will be 71. He has promised to use his new term to beef up Russia's defences against the West and to raise living standards.
In an outcome that was never in doubt, the Central Election Commission, with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted, announced that Putin, who has run Russia as president or prime minister since 1999, had won 76.66 percent of the vote.
In a late night victory speech near Red Square, Putin told a cheering crowd he interpreted the win as a vote of confidence in what he had achieved in the last few years in tough conditions.
"It's very important to maintain this unity," said Putin, before leading the crowd in repeated chants of "Russia!" He told a meeting of supporters afterwards that difficult times were ahead, but that Russia had a chance to make "a breakthrough."
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