WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a "very good" phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine crisis and the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on Monday, saying his Russian counterpart "wants to be helpful" in the Middle East.
"We had a very good talk and he wants to be very constructive," Trump said at a press conference in Florida.
Trump said they discussed the fight between Russia and Ukraine, which enters its fifth year now, during their first phone call since U.S. and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
It was a "positive call on that subject," said Trump.
Earlier on Monday, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov described the conversation between the two leaders as "frank and businesslike" and said it lasted about one hour.
Ushakov said the Russian president "voiced a few ideas aimed at a quick political and diplomatic settlement" of the conflict following his conversations with Gulf leaders and Iran's president, while Trump offered his assessment of the developing situation.
The two leaders also touched on Venezuela "in the context of the situation in the global oil market," said Ushakov.
Also on Monday, Putin said that Russia has "repeatedly warned that attempts to destabilize the situation in the Middle East will inevitably jeopardize" the global energy market, raising prices and limiting supplies. ■
