US President Donald Trump has said that he congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said they would likely meet soon to discuss the arms race and crises in Ukraine, Syria and North Korea.
Mr Putin was re-elected on Sunday as Russia's president, extending his tenure for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory.
"I congratulated him on the victory, the electoral victory," Mr Trump said.
"The call had to do also with the fact that we will probably get together in the not too distant future so we can discuss arms, we can discuss the arms race."
The White House later said there were no specific plans for a summit meeting.
Speaking of the arms race, Mr Trump said: "We will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have."
Donald Trump says he congratulated Vladimir Putin on his election win pic.twitter.com/HbBgbSGEUt
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 20, 2018
Earlier, the Interfax news agency reported that the two leaders did not discuss the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK earlier this month.
Elsewhere, US House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he has been assured that President Trump is not considering firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
"The special counsel should be free to follow through his investigation to completion without interference, absolutely," Mr Ryan said at a news conference.
"I am confident that he’ll be able to do that. I’ve received assurances that his firing is not even under consideration."
"We have a system based on the rule of law in this country. We have a justice system and no one is above that justice system," he said.
Mr Trump is reported to have considered firing Mr Mueller, who is focusing on Mr Trump, his close aides and family, although White House lawyer Ty Cobb has denied that this was the case.
Mr Mueller is probing whether the Trump campaign joined in Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election - efforts that sought to boost Mr Trump's chances of winning, according to US intelligence.
He is also investigating whether Mr Trump may have illegally tried to obstruct the investigation.
In recent weeks, Mr Trump has reportedly been increasingly agitated by Mr Mueller's ten-month investigation.
"The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime," he tweeted at the weekend, taking aim at Mr Mueller directly for the first time.
The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2018
Mr Ryan, who has supported the special counsel investigation of Russian election meddling, did not elaborate on his assurances.
Both the Trump campaign and Russia have denied the claims.
Mr Trump has also previously denied reports that he was considering firing Mr Mueller.
Meanwhile, a US Senate committee has released its first draft recommendations on how to prevent hacking of US elections, after spending more than a year investigating claims of Russian attempts to target the voting system during the 2016 campaign.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has called on Congress to "urgently pass" legislation to boost assistance to states and establish a voluntary grant programme.
It also recommends that Washington "clearly communicate" that attacks on elections are hostile and "respond accordingly".
