Putin expects to speak with Trump on virus

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he will have more discussions with US counterpart Donald Trump about battling the coronavirus and its effects on the economy.

Putin told the US-Russian crew aboard the International Space Station that the ISS is "an example of an effective partnership of our countries" as the world fights the pandemic, according to a Kremlin statement.

"Yesterday we discussed these problems with the US President, and we will have more discussions in the future on this subject," Putin told the three Russian and three American men and women currently in orbit.

Putin had a phone call with Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman late on Thursday, the Kremlin said, with the conversation focussed on global oil prices. It was the second call since March 30 between the US and Russian leaders, with Trump saying after the Thursday conversation that they "get along very well", even though bilateral relations have been at their lowest point since the Cold War. Moscow last week has sent a military plane with medical aid and equipment to New York, the epicentre of the US coronavirus epidemic.