PM call with President Putin, 25 May 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron spoke with President Putin about Syria and Ukraine.
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
President Putin called the Prime Minister this afternoon to congratulate the PM on his ‘major success’ in the election.
During the 30 minute phone call, the 2 leaders focused on 2 key issues: Syria and Ukraine.
On Syria, both leaders agreed that it is in the interest of both the UK and Russia to help find a solution to the civil war in Syria and particularly to stop the rise of ISIL.
They agreed that their national security advisers should meet to restart talks on the Syrian conflict. The Prime Minister reiterated his belief that President Assad could not be part of the solution in Syria. And they agreed that both countries should continue talks with the moderate Syrian opposition as part of this effort.
On Ukraine, the Prime Minister said that they would continue to have deep differences but that the priority now must be to deliver full implementation of the Minsk agreement. The Prime Minister emphasised the need for the trilateral contact group to continue to meet and to work through the outstanding issues.
The Prime Minister concluded the call by noting that the UK and Russia had worked successfully together on the Iranian nuclear issue and he hoped that in the years ahead, we could find other issues where the UK and Russia could work together on matters of mutual interest.