Putin, Trump phone call expected on Saturday - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference after a meeting with his Moldovan counterpart Igor Dodon at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, January 17, 2017. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW/BERLIN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will speak by telephone on Saturday, the Kremlin said, a first step towards what Trump has billed as a normalisation of relations after three years of tensions sparked by the conflict in Ukraine.

Trump will also have a telephone conversation the same day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and that call is expected to focus on Russia, a source in Berlin familiar with the matter said.