US, Russian presidents talk over phone on G7 summit

MOSCOW

US President Donald Trump shared with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ideas of holding Group of Seven (G7) summit in September during a phone talk on Monday.

Trump informed Putin about his consideration on possible invitation of heads of Russia, Australia, India and South Korea, the Kremlin said in a statement on its official website.

In addition, the two presidents exchanged opinions on measures taken to counter the spread of the coronavirus, it said.

In this regard, Putin thanked Trump for the ventilators sent by the US to Russia in a reciprocal step of providing humanitarian assistance.

Putin also congratulated Trump over successful launch of Crew Dragon manned spacecraft, which delivered the US astronauts to the International Space Station. Both leaders confirmed interest in further cooperation in the domain of space exploration.

Discussing the situation on the global oil markets, Putin and Trump agreed that the OPEC plus deal, achieved with their support, is leading to a gradual recovery of oil demand and price stabilization.

At the beginning of the pandemic, having lack of ventilators necessary to cure the coronavirus patients, Washington asked Moscow for assistance. The request was met positively.

In May, when the US has expanded its capacity to produce ventilator systems, Washington found an opportunity to support Russian efforts to combat the pandemic by sending 200 ventilators.

The medical equipment was delivered under a humanitarian exchange free of charge.