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Putin, Trump discuss N Korea in phone call
WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump
discussed the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program in a phone call
Thursday, in which the US president took the unusual step of thanking his
Russian counterpart for praising America’s economy.
The two heads of state discussed “the situation in several crisis zones,
with a focus on solving the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula,” the
Kremlin said in a statement, without elaborating.
The White House said the two “discussed working together to resolve the
very dangerous situation in North Korea.”
But Trump’s thanks to Putin took top billing in the US statement.
“President Trump thanked President Putin for acknowledging America’s strong
economic performance in his annual press conference,” it said.
Earlier in the day, Putin told his press conference: “Look at how the
markets are reacting, they are growing. This shows confidence in the American
economy. With all due respect to (Trump’s) opponents, these are objective
facts.”
The pair have lavished praise on each other in the past, with commentators
describing their cozy relationship as a “bromance.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller is currently investigating possible
collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow to tilt the White House race
in his favor.
Washington this week said it was ready to talk to North Korea — which has
launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles in recent months —
“without preconditions.”
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that while the Trump
administration was still determined to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear
arsenal, it was willing to “have the first meeting without preconditions.”
Putin, in his annual press conference with hundreds of journalists in
Moscow, welcomed the United States’ “awareness of reality” in the crisis.
However, he called on all sides to “stop aggravating the situation” and
said Moscow did not recognize North Korea’s status as a nuclear power.
BSS/AFP/RY/09:10 hrs