Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday held the third telephone conversation. The heads of state agreed to hold the first personal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg. Putin and Trump also discussed the problem of North Korea, given the urgency of addressing that crisis. Perhaps it is the most serious threat to international peace, Richard Weitz, senior researcher and director of the Center for Military and Political Analysis at the Hudson Institute, said in an interview with www.valdaiclub.com.

       According to the American expert, the statements issued by the Russian and US governments concur that they addressed the Korean and Syrian crises as well as counterterrorism but differ in certain important respects. Neither was very detailed.

       It was good, the expert said, that Putin and Trump discussed Korea given the urgency of addressing that crisis, perhaps the most serious threat to international peace. "Putin has long been interested in the issue while Trump has declared it the most immediate challenge to US security", Weitz stressed. "The Russian government statement emphasized diplomacy, though the US declaration was vaguer. One suspects that Trump mentioned other options."

       In contrast, the US statement offered more insights on the dialogue related to Syria, the expert said. The White House said that the two governments explored establishing some kind of safe havens for civilians as well as raising the level of US participation in the Astana peace talks. "They may have avoided airing their differences over Assad, chemical weapons, and other Syrian issues, but these questions will likely impede any concrete operational cooperation between their two militaries in Syria—at best they may continue to focus on deconfliction,” Richard Weitz concluded.

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