The White House said President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday about the coronavirus pandemic and avoiding an arms race with China.
The two world leaders “discussed efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to reopen global economies,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.
He added that Trump “reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia, and the United States and looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations in Vienna.”
This comes amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China. The U.S. ordered the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston this week, which prompted Beijing to threaten retaliation.
Deere told the Washington Examiner he had “nothing to add” about the conversation between Trump and Putin when asked if the two leaders discussed reported intelligence about a Russian intelligence unit paying militants in Afghanistan to harm U.S. troops, China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims, or the situation in Hong Kong.
The Kremlin confirmed that Trump and Putin spoke about arms control, economic relations, and the coronavirus, as well as the Iran nuclear deal.
Separately, Putin remarked on Thursday that “Russia-China relations have reached unprecedented heights and are rightly viewed as an example of cooperation between countries in today’s world,” according to state-owned TASS.
Also on Thursday, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko reiterated Russia’s commitment to cooperate with any U.S. president — a nod to the upcoming election in which former Vice President Joe Biden is challenging Trump for the White House.
“Who will be elected president — this is the right of the American people,” she said. “We have never interfered, and we won’t interfere. Even if somebody wanted to, it is impossible to do. Whoever the American people elect, we will attempt to [cooperate]. As a responsible state, as a responsible member of the international community, we will make every effort to improve the cooperation with the US.”
