Putin, Trump discuss Middle East settlement over phone: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump and discussed the Middle East settlement, the Kremlin said Monday.

Putin revealed the phone call at the beginning of talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a Kremlin statement said, adding that the Russian president forwarded Trump's "best wishes" to Abbas.

He was also quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that the situation in the region was far from satisfactory.

Abbas said Palestine refuses to cooperate "in any way" with the United States in their status as a mediator in the process of the Middle East settlement, citing recent U.S. actions such as the decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, which was like "a slap in the face" for Palestine.

Palestine does not oppose to the mediation format of the settlement being multilateral, in which America can only serve as part of the group of mediators, he added.