--- title: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump Discuss Syria by Telephone description: President Donald Trump had a "very good" telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-02T19:52:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:12.038Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump and Vladimir Putin Had a 'Very Good' Phone Call og:description: The pair discussed North Korea and Syria og:url: https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7c48eb1240c187/6988cb87ab6d77bea66adeb0/gettyimages-6329161381.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Speaks With Russian Leader Vladimir Putin From The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump and Vladimir Putin Had a 'Very Good' Phone Call twitter:description: The pair discussed North Korea and Syria twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7c48eb1240c187/6988cb87ab6d77bea66adeb0/gettyimages-6329161381.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump and Vladimir Putin Had a 'Very Good' Phone Call > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: In His Words: Donald Trump on Russia [Watch (HLS stream): In His Words: Donald Trump on Russia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xFwMpNTD.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2017-02-15. Trump’s ties with Russia have become the focus of attention after Michael Flynn’s resignation as National Security Advisor_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 2, 2017 7:52 PM UTC  President Trump speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 2, 2017 7:52 PM UTC President Donald Trump had a “very good” telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday about the ongoing conflict in Syria and the escalating tension with North Korea, the White House said. The two leaders spoke of implementing safety zones in Syria to help quell the violence, agreeing that it had gone on for too long, and “that all parties must do all they can to end the violence.” Although Trump and Putin have praised each other frequently and the FBI has confirmed it is investigating possible collusion between the two camps during the 2016 election, tensions between the two countries hit a high last month after a [chemical attack](http://time.com/4728144/syria-chemical-attack-family/?iid=sr-link4) in Syria killed over 80 people, including children. The White House blamed Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar-al Assad for the attack. Russia vetoed a[ U.N. resolution](http://time.com/4737100/russia-vetoes-united-nations-resolution-syria-chemical-attack/?iid=sr-link3) that would have condemned the use of chemical weapons “Assad has no incentive to stop using chemical weapons as long as Russia continues to protect his regime from consequences,” [U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley](http://time.com/4727234/nikki-haley-united-nations-syria-attack-warning/) said last month after the attack. “If Russia has the influence in Syria that it claims to have, we need to see them use it. We need to see them put an end to these horrific acts. How many more children have to die before Russia cares?” Cease-fire talks regarding the conflict will be held in Kazakhstan starting May 3, and the White House will send representation. On North Korea, the White House said the the two spoke about the best way to resolve the escalating situation after he country conducted several missile tests. A readout from the Kremlin however, said that Putin called for restraint, [Reuters reports. ](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-putin-kremlin-idUSKBN17Y2B5?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm%5Fsource=dlvr.it&utm%5Fmedium=twitter) The readout from the Kremlin also reported the two leaders were planning a face-to-face meeting at the G20 summit in Germany this summer, according to Reuters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/"},"headline":"President Trump and Vladimir Putin Had a 'Very Good' Phone Call","datePublished":"2017-05-02T19:52:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:12.038Z","description":"The pair discussed North Korea and Syria","url":"https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7c48eb1240c187/6988cb87ab6d77bea66adeb0/gettyimages-6329161381.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d7c48eb1240c187/6988cb87ab6d77bea66adeb0/gettyimages-6329161381.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Speaks With Russian Leader Vladimir Putin From The White House","caption":"Donald Trump Speaks With Russian Leader Vladimir Putin From The White House","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/","name":"President Trump and Vladimir Putin Had a 'Very Good' Phone Call"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"In His Words: Donald Trump on Russia","description":"Trump’s ties with Russia have become the focus of attention after Michael Flynn’s resignation as National Security Advisor","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xFwMpNTD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-15T21:46:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xFwMpNTD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/","duration":"PT1M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4763923/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-phone-call-north-korea-syria/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```