Putin, Trump aim for cooperation, Kremlin says

US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to "normalise US-Russia ties", the Kremlin has said, following a phone conversation between the two.

"President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia," Trump's office said in a statement on Monday.

“During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical US-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years,” the statement said.

The Kremlin said that Putin congratulated Trump on his victory and expressed Russia's readiness to "establish a partner-like dialogue with the new administration on the basis of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in domestic relations".

The Kremlin has on numerous occasions accused the Obama administration of attempting to foment dissent in Russia, and of interfering in the countries that border it, notably Ukraine. Meanwhile US officials directly accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the election in favour of Trump, by hacking Democratic party servers, the Guardian reported. Putin has denied any interference.

In contrast to many European leaders, Putin “wished him success in implementing his campaign promises”.

The Kremlin revealed Trump and Putin had discussed Syria and agreed that current Russian-US relations were "extremely unsatisfactory".

Putin will also have taken heart from Trump’s suggestion that he could move US focus in Syria away from removing President Bashar Assad, and back Russia’s bombing raids.

“Putin and Trump shared the opinion that it is necessary to join forces against the common enemy number one: international terrorism and extremism. In this spirit, the question of regulating the conflict in Syria was also discussed,” the Kremlin statement said.

The two men agreed to keep in touch by telephone and begin planning for an in-person meeting at a later date. It was not specified whether such a meeting would take place before or after Trump’s inauguration in January.