president-elect donald trump noted that he is looking forward to "a strong and enduring relationship with russia." | ap photo by brent griffiths 11/14/16 03:55 pm est updated 11/14/16 04:24 pm est president-elect donald trump and russian president vladimir putin spoke via phone on monday, their first conversation since the new york billionaire was elected on nov. 8. according to a readout of the call from trump's transition team, the two discussed a variety of issues, including: current roadblocks to u.s.-russian relations, economic issues and the history of ties between the two countries. story continued below trump noted that he is looking forward to "a strong and enduring relationship with russia and the people of russia," the readout said. the two men's phone call comes after a bitterly fought u.s. election, in which the u.s. government accused russia of meddling in the american electoral system through hacks of democratic institutions and officials, and democratic nominee hillary clinton all but accused trump of being a kremlin stooge. trump promised to reach out to russia repeatedly during the campaign despite harsh criticism from national security experts, democrats and many republicans. a kremlin summary of the call says the two leaders agreed to arrange a "face-to-face meeting." the russian readout further added that trump and putin agreed on normalizing relations, which are in a "very poor state." the two also discussed the fight against " a common enemy" of international terrorism and the notion that the two countries could get on the same page in syria, where russia has supported keeping the current president in power despite crimes against his own people, according to the kremlin's account. the trump team did not immediately respond to questions about the discrepancy between the two statements . by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
trump and putin discuss future ties in phone call - politico
brent griffiths michael grunwald