Moscow: The recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump was a step towards a face to face meeting, the Kremlin said. Russian media quoted the Kremlin as saying that the Russian-US talks scheduled for Monday in Riyadh will also be a similar step.

According to Qatar News Agency, the US President, in an interview, described his contacts with his Russian counterpart as rational. Trump added that he knows Putin well, while expressing his satisfaction that relations between the two sides had not deteriorated due to accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

The two presidents continued a detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine, and Putin expressed his gratitude to Trump for his willingness to help achieve the goal of ending hostilities and human losses, the Kremlin statement read.