Putin and Donald Trump discuss Syria in first phonecall

President Vladimir Putin spoke with Trump during a telephone call, in which the two leaders agreed on "uniting efforts in the fight with the common enemy number one – international terrorism and extremism," the Kremlin said in a statement published on its website.

The two also vowed to assess "the extremely unsatisfactory state of Russian-US relations at present" and "declared the need for active joint work to normalise them," a statement said.

Trump has been highly complementary of Putin, whose relations with the Barack Obama administration and European Union are strained - especially in regards with war-torn Syria, where both nations stand on opposing fronts.

But the situation might see a "radical change" soon, according to Russian parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin who confirmed that Putin and Trump share views on a wide range of matters.

“Putin and Trump have numerous common points and shared views,” Volodin told NTV Channel, adding that Obama deliberately “whipped up tensions, therefore contributing to the growing animosity” between the two countries.

“If Trump brings his promises to life, it will radically change the situation. We have only seen Trump as a candidate but we are yet to see what [kind of] president he will be,” the speaker said.

Trump said during his presidential campaign that he wants to be friends with Russia and join forces in the fight against IS, yet he outlined few specifics as to how he would go about it.

Outgoing President Barack Obama began his presidency with a goal to “reset” ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Throughout the campaign, the Kremlin insisted that it had no favorites and rejected the claims of interference in the US election. Russia’s state-controlled media, however, made no secret of their sympathy for Trump.