Alleged Russian arrests cloud Putin, Trump call

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday agreed to meet US President Donald Trump, affirming the importance of bilateral ties while setting the stage for potentially sensitive trade talks.

A visit by Abe to the US is a focus for the Trump administration after the US president pulled America out of an Asia-Pacific trade deal Japan had championed.

Abe said he had agreed to meet Trump in Washington DC on February 10.

Abe said that at the coming meeting, "I would like to have a candid exchange of views on the economy and security issues as a whole."

Putin, Merkel, Hollande agree to speak to Trump

Russia's President Vladimir Putin also spoke with Trump on Saturday.

It was the first time the leaders have spoken since Trump took office on January 20.

The previous US administration accused Russia of hacking the US election campaign ahead of Trump's victory in the November 8 presidential election.

Ahead of Saturday's call, several Russian news outlets reported that Moscow had arrested two intelligence officers who worked on cyberoperations and a Russian computer security expert and charged them with treason for providing information to the US.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande had also agreed to speak to the US president on Saturday.