Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump is seeking “mutually beneficial” and “pragmatic” relations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday after meeting the US leader in the White House.

“President Trump clearly confirmed his interest in building mutually beneficial, business-like pragmatic relations,” Lavrov told journalists.

The Russian FM also said reports of Moscow meddling in US ‘fabrications’.

These photos of Trump-Russia meetings are courtesy solely of Russian MFA because no US press allowed in. pic.twitter.com/PI4cSPIqvG — Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) May 10, 2017

Moon, Trump agree on close cooperation on N. Korea: Seoul

South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump agreed Wednesday on “close cooperation” in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, Seoul’s presidential office said.

In their first phone call since Moon’s inauguration, the two leaders “agreed on close cooperation in resolving security concerns on the Korean peninsula including North Korea’s nuclear ambitions,” the Blue House said in a statement.

Calling Pyongyang’s atomic weapons programme a “a difficult problem that can be solved”, Trump invited Moon to visit the United States “as early as possible”, according to the statement.

Moon was sworn in Wednesday, just a day after a landslide election victory following the ouster of his predecessor Park Geun-Hye over a massive corruption scandal.

Moon backs engagement with the nuclear-armed North in the quest for peace — in contrast to the threatening rhetoric from the Trump administration in recent weeks — and has immediately declared his willingness to visit Pyongyang.

“If needed I will fly to Washington immediately,” Moon said in an inauguration speech after taking the oath of office in front of lawmakers at Seoul’s National Assembly building.

“I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances.”

But Trump recently appeared to offer the prospect of a diplomatic off-ramp last week, saying he would be “honored” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un under the right conditions.