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Trump voices concerns to Putin over new Russian armaments - report

The US leader also "raised the nuclear threat" in phone conversations with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to the paper

NEW YORK, March 21. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump expressed concerns over new Russian armaments in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, The New York Times reported citing sources in the US administration.

During their call, "a senior official said, Mr. Trump told Mr. Putin he had been concerned by a recent speech in which Mr. Putin talked about Russia developing an "invincible" intercontinental cruise missile and a nuclear torpedo that could outsmart all American defenses," the report said.

The US leader also "raised the nuclear threat" in phone conversations with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to the paper.

"More recently, however, Mr. Trump noted that Mr. Putin had taken a more moderate tone, talking about the need to de-escalate the nuclear arms race between Russia and the United States," the paper wrote. According to the official, Trump told Putin that he welcomed "the shift in tone."

Trump also mentioned the US administration’s plans to spend $700 billion to upgrade the American military, and that "the United States would win any arms race between the two."

On Tuesday, Trump congratulated Putin over the phone on winning the Russian presidential election. The US leader said he and Putin might meet "in the not too distant future" to discuss the arms race and the situation in Syria, Ukraine and North Korea.

The Kremlin press service said the phone conversation was held at the initiative of the US side. The Kremlin noted that "in general, the conversation was constructive and businesslike and focused on overcoming the problems that have accumulated in Russian-US relations."

The presidents agreed to "develop further bilateral contacts, including in the context of reshuffles in the US State Department." "Special attention was focused on the issue of a possible top-level meeting," the Kremlin said.

Russia held presidential election on March 18. According to the latest update of the Russian Central Election Commission, incumbent President Vladimir Putin scored 76.6% of the vote.