(CN) — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he wants to meet with Vladimir Putin in the "not too distant future" to discuss the "arms race" between the U.S. and Russia.
"Í suspect we'll probably be meeting in the not too distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control, but we will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have," the president told White House reporters prior to a closed-door meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump's comments came after what he said was a "very good call" with Putin on Tuesday morning to congratulate the Russian leader on his re-election Sunday to a fourth six-year term.
Trump said he also wants to discuss Ukraine, North Korea, and Syria with the Russian president.
In a statement, the Kremlin confirmed the two presidents spoke Tuesday about the need to coordinate efforts to limit the arms race as well as the need for closer cooperation on strategic stability and counter-terrorism.
The statement said the two leaders also discussed the Ukrainian crisis and the 7-year Syrian war and talked about a possible bilateral meeting.
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