Donald Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his election victory, but did not discuss the recent nerve-agent attack in Britain.

A press release from Mr Putin’s office said the two leaders had talked on Tuesday “at the initiative of the American side”. The two did not discuss the poisoning of a Russian double agent in Salisbury, which British officials have said was “highly likely” tied to the Kremlin, Mr Putin’s press secretary told Interfax. The White House confirmed that the poisoning was not discussed.

Mr Trump confirmed that the two had spoken, telling reporters at a press conference he planned to meet with Mr Putin in the “not too distant future” to talk about the global arms race and tensions with North Korea. He did not mention the attack.

Mr Putin’s office said he and Mr Trump had discussed everything from terrorism to energy development. The call was “constructive, businesslike and focused on overcoming the accumulated problems in Russian-American relations”, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The call came shortly after Prime Minister Theresa May chastised Mr Putin over the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal. The Russian President has denied any involvement in the attack, which left Mr Skripal and his daughter in a critical condition. But Ms May said on Monday there was “no other conclusion but the Russia state is culpable for what happened on the streets of Salisbury”.

The Prime Minister expelled 23 Russian diplomats as a result.

Russia election 2018: in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Russia election 2018: in pictures Russia election 2018: in pictures People attend a rally in Manezhnaya Square near the Kremlin during the ongoing presidential elections. EPA Russia election 2018: in pictures The members of the local election commission open a ballot box for counting at a polling station during the presidential elections in St. Petersburg. EPA Russia election 2018: in pictures Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak attend a debate at the "Navalny Live" YouTube show in Moscow. Reuters Russia election 2018: in pictures Members of a local election commission count votes during Russia's presidential election in the small town of Krasnyi. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures President Vladimir Putin walks out of a voting booth at a polling station during Russia's presidential election in Moscow. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures An elderly woman casts her ballot at her house during Russia's presidential election in the village of Khrapovo. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures Presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak votes inside a polling booth in Moscow. AP Russia election 2018: in pictures Russian Communist Party presidential candidate Pavel Grudinin votes at a polling station in the Sovkhoz Imeni Lenina, outside Moscow. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures A woman with her dog lines up with Russian military personnel to vote in the presidential election in Moscow. AP Russia election 2018: in pictures A man casts his ballot at a polling station during Russia's presidential election in the small town of Krasnyi. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures Presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky casts a ballot at a polling station in Moscow. Reuters Russia election 2018: in pictures An elderly woman fills her ballot at her house as a member of a mobile Russian election committee visits residents of the village of Sovyaki. EPA Russia election 2018: in pictures A child plays at a polling station during presidential elections in St.Petersburg. AP Russia election 2018: in pictures A man casts his ballot at a polling station inside Kazansky railway terminal. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures Vladimir Putin casts his ballot. Reuters Russia election 2018: in pictures A man casts a ballot, during the presidential election, inside the Russian Embassy in London. Reuters Russia election 2018: in pictures People leave a polling station during the presidential election in Moscow. Reuters Russia election 2018: in pictures Presidential candidate Sergei Baburin, leader of the nationalist People's Union party, votes at a polling station in Moscow. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures Voters look at a poster displaying presidential candidates at a polling station in the ZIL cultural centre in Moscow. AFP/Getty Images Russia election 2018: in pictures An Orthodox Jewish Russian citizen casts his ballot at a polling station for the Russian presidential elections in the Sergei Building at the Russian compound in Jerusalem. EPA Russia election 2018: in pictures Players of the Russian national soccer team, including Vladimir Gabulov and Yuri Zhirkov, visit a polling station during the presidential election at the Novogorsk training centre outside Moscow. Reuters Russia election 2018: in pictures President Vladimir Putin shakes the hand of a polling station staff member during voting. AFP/Getty Images Russia election 2018: in pictures A man votes at a polling station in Moscow. Rex Russia election 2018: in pictures Presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak casts her ballot by scanning it in at a polling station in Moscow. EPA Russia election 2018: in pictures Policemen guarding the General Consulate of Russia in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv watch an Ukrainian activist touching the nose of a dummy embodying Russia's president in a coffin. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures A woman with a dog reads her ballot at a polling station in Moscow. AFP/Getty Russia election 2018: in pictures A man walks out of a voting booth at a polling station in the village of Novye Bateki. AFP/Getty

Mr Trump has been more reserved in his comments, saying only that it “sounds like” Russia was behind the attack.

“As soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn Russia or whoever it may be,” he told reporters last week.

The US President has been on the defensive about his relationship with Mr Putin, who he previously called “a strong leader”. The US Justice Department and Senate Intelligence Committee are probing allegations that Mr Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election – which Mr Trump has repeatedly called a “witch hunt”.

Body language expert says Vladimir Putin’s statement denying responsibility for Salisbury poisoning looks ‘truthful’

Mr Trump and Mr Putin’s call came on the same day the Senate Intelligence Committee released its report on Russian targeting of the US election infrastructure. The committee deemed the US infrastructure as “fundamentally resilient”, but urged states to take “rapid” steps to secure their voting systems.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has already charged 13 Russian nationals with intervening in the 2016 election to “sow discord”.