U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly agreed in principle that Iranian forces should exit Syria when they met in Helsinki in July, according to a U.S. administration official familiar with the meeting.
However, the official told Bloomberg that the Russian leadership said securing Iran's withdrawal from Syria would be difficult.
Trump and Putin also discussed the ongoing campaign against the Islamic State terrorist group, the dispute over Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights and the humanitarian situation in Syria, the official told Bloomberg.
According to the Bloomberg report, Trump briefed his chief of staff, John Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman for 15 minutes immediately after meeting one-on-one with Putin.
At the July summit, much of the focus was directed at Trump's refusal to back the assessments of the U.S. intelligence community over Putin's denials of Russian meddling in U.S. elections. Trump subsequently said he misspoke and that he did believe the American intelligence community's assessment.
During their meeting, the two leaders said their countries would work together to ensure Israel's security.
The Russian leader said that during the "very successful" one-on-one meeting, Trump placed a special emphasis on maintaining Israel's security.
Netanyahu welcomed the U.S.'s "deep commitment," his office said in a statement after the summit.
The prime minister "greatly appreciates the security coordination between Israel and Russia and expressed the clear position to President Putin on the need to maintain the separation agreements between Israel and Syria in 1974," the statement said.
