Officials have confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the phone on Monday evening. Putin is said to have called Trump to congratulate him on winning last week's presidential election.

The two are said to have agreed on the need to resolve "extremely unsatisfactory" Russo-American relations, planning for a personal meeting and joint work toward the normalization of ties between the two major nations. According to the Kremlin, the agreement was for a dialogue "on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and non-intervention in each other's domestic affairs."

Such a productive first phone call is unsurprising, as during the campaign Trump had talked of improving relations with Russia, and since the election Russian government officials have said they saw the election of Trump as America's rejection of Hillary Clinton's calls for further hostility toward Russia.