Trump and Putin discuss face-to-face summer meeting in Europe as they talk for first time since U.S. missile strike's on Kremlin's Syrian ally

First talks: Trump, who had earlier been in the Rose Garden presenting the Commander-in-Chief trophy, held talks with Putin on the phone about Syria and may meet him face-to-face

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed working together to end the violence in Syria on Tuesday in their first phone call since U.S. air strikes in Syria strained U.S.-Russian relations.
The White House said the two leaders agreed that 'all parties must do all they can to end the violence' in Syria and that Trump and Putin also discussed working together against Islamic militants throughout the Middle East.

'The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons,' a White House statement said.

Meeting: Vladimir Putin, who met Germany's Angela Merkel for talk is his Black Sea residence in Sochi, may meet the new U.S. president in July, the Kremlin suggested

Trump's decision to launch 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian airfield on April 4 in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack angered the Russians and led to some bitter exchanges between the two governments.

The White House statement said Washington will send a representative to Syrian cease-fire talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday and Thursday.

'They also discussed at length working together to eradicate terrorism throughout the Middle East. Finally, they spoke about how best to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea,' the statement said.
A separate statement from the Kremlin suggested a face-to-face meeting is on the cards.

The two agreed in a phone call on Tuesday to try to meet in July and work together to try to strengthen a shaky ceasefire in Syria, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin, which called the talks between Putin and Trump business-like and constructive, said the two leaders had emphasized coordinating their actions to fight international terrorism.

On North Korea, the Kremlin said Putin called for restraint and that the two leaders had agreed to work together to make diplomatic progress there too.

Both men also spoke in favor of organizing a face-to-face meeting around the time of the G20 summit in Hamburg in July, according to the Kremlin statement.