Xi Jinping speaks with Trump for the first time in about two months…right after a video summit with Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call on the 4th (local time) with U.S. President Donald Trump, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Details of the call have yet to be disclosed. The conversation came as President Trump has publicly vowed to visit China in April. It was the first call between the two leaders in about two months since their phone conversation on Nov. 24 last year.

News of the call came shortly after Xi held a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reaffirm the two countries’ commitment to cooperation.

Amid a turbulent international landscape, including a growing risk of a military clash between the United States and Iran, Xi and Putin discussed the development of bilateral ties and major international issues for about 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy adviser, said they also discussed the looming expiration on the 5th of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which limits the size of Russia’s and the United States’ strategic nuclear arsenals.

Ushakov added that during the video meeting Xi invited Putin to pay an official visit to China in the first half of this year, and Putin accepted.

Choi Man-soo, bebop@hankyung.com