WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, soon to discuss "the arms race, which is getting out of control."
The president made the comment to reporters at the White House as he confirmed that he'd congratulated Putin that morning in a phone call for the Russian's "electoral victory." Putin was re-elected on Sunday with more than 77 percent of the vote against a weak field of opposition candidates.
Trump said they discussed Ukraine, North Korea and Syria. But he did not mention Russian hacking and disinformation efforts in the 2016 U.S. election, nor the recent nerve-agent assassination attempt in Britain against a former Russian spy and his daughter, which the British and others have blamed on Russia.
He spoke to reporters briefly alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of their lunch and meeting.
Speaking of Putin, Trump said, "We will probably get together in the not-too-distant future.
"We had a very good call and I suspect that we'll be meeting in the not-too-distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control," Trump said.
Asked about the historic multi-national Iran nuclear deal, from which Trump has threatened to withdraw in May, he told reporters, "We'll see what happens."
He added that Iran has not been treating the region or the world "appropriately," adding, "A lot of bad things are happening in Iran."
