President Trump said Tuesday he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the “not too distant future” to discuss an unwanted “arms race” with Moscow, and the situation in North Korea.

Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House that he had a phone call with Mr. Putin “and congratulated him on his electoral victory” on Sunday, when the Russian leader received 75 percent of the vote. He noted that Mr. Putin said right after his reelection that an arms race with the U.S. concerns him.

Mr. Trump said the arms race “is getting out of control, but we will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have.”

“We are spending $700 billion this year on our military,” he said. “We are going to remain stronger than any other nation in the world by far. We had a very good call.

He said they also want to discuss Ukraine, Syria and North Korea, where Mr. Trump is seeking Russia’s help in denuclearizing the regime.

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