WASHINGTON, January 29. /TASS/. Saturday’s phone conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States launched the process of mending ties between Moscow and Washington, the White House press service said.

"The positive call was a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair," the White House said in a statement. "Both President (Donald) Trump and President (Vladimir) Putin are hopeful that after today's call the two sides can move quickly to tackle terrorism and other important issues of mutual concern."

According to the White House, the conversation "lasted approximately one hour and ranged in topics from mutual cooperation in defeating ISIS to efforts in working together to achieve more peace throughout the world including Syria."

The statement describes the conversation as " a congratulatory call."

The Kremlin said late on Saturday that the heads of the two states had discussed a wide range of issues in their first conversation since Donald Trump took office on January 20, including antiterrorism efforts, trade and economic ties, as well as the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula. They noted that joining forces in the fight against terrorism should become a priority in bilateral relations and spoke in favor of practical coordination of their efforts against the Islamic State radical group, outlawed in Russia.

The two leaders have also agreed to maintain regular contacts and tasked their teams with working on the date and time of a meeting in person.

According to the Kremlin, the conversation was held in a positive and businesslike atmosphere.