Trump says Putin discussed nuclear 'de-escalation' during phone call

HAMILTON, Canada

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin brought up the issue of nuclear de-escalation during their recent phone call.

"You know, President Putin in his call mentioned to me about nuclear, we do a de-escalation. And I'm fine with that. I think it's good. I think it's a very appropriate thing," he told reporters at the White House alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Trump also claimed that the US has "the most nuclear weapons. Russia second, China is actually third by a long way."

"But they'll be even within four or five years, too many. And we are talking about de-escalation," he added.

According to data from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) however, Russia tops the list with over 5,500 nuclear warheads and then the US with 5,277.