Trump: U.S. wants to avoid arms race with Russia and China

U.S.  President Donald Trump told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin he wanted to avoid a costly arms race with Russia and China and hoped for progress in arms control negotiations, White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

"President Trump reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia and the United States and looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations in Vienna," Reuters cited the spokesman as saying.

The two leaders also discussed Iran’s nuclear program, the Kremlin said in its statement on the call.

"The need for collective efforts to maintain regional stability and the global nuclear non-proliferation regime has been emphasized on both sides," the Kremlin said.

The White House did not mention Iran but said Trump and Putin discussed ways to defeat the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to reopen global economies.