Donald Trump speaks with Russia's Vladimir Putin but does not mention sanctions

This was the first time the US president had spoken directly with the Russian leader

Russia's President Vladimir Putin makes his annual New Year address to the nation in Moscow (Reuters)

President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid accusations Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election, but did not discuss hacking in the US election or the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

According to a readout from the Kremlin about the meeting, Mr Putin congratulated Mr Trump on becoming president.

Mr Trump has previously stressed that he wants to see an improved relationship between the US and Russia.

“I think it would be great if we got along with Russia because we could fight Isis together, as an example, but I don't know Putin,” Mr Trump said, during the second Republican presidential debate.

The two also discussed the Iranian nuclear programme. Mr. Trump has previously criticised the nuclear agreement that was negotiated with Iran by the US, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia.

A statement released by the Kremlin said Mr Trump and his Russian counterpart had agreed to establish "partner-like cooperation" on issues ranging from Ukraine to Iran.

The phrasing will raise fears that the White House plans to pull back from sanctions on Russia.

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But absent from the official account of the conversation was any explicit mention of lifting sanctions imposed on Russia because of the nation’s 2014 intervention in Ukraine, which Mr Trump had previously said he would be open to considering. They also did not apparently discuss the fate of 35 Russian diplomats recently expelled by Barack Obama for Moscow’s alleged cyber-meddling in the election.

The intelligence community has said - without providing evidence - that Russia intervened in the US elections last year to assist Mr Trump by hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee and giving them to the website WikiLeaks.

After initially refusing to admit outright that it was Russia, earlier this month Mr Trump said it was Russia that conducted the hacks.

But Mr Trump initially criticised leaks about information by the intelligence community, comparing them to “Nazi Germany” on Twitter.

During the first general election debate with Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump refused to directly acknowledge that Russia had intervened in the presidential election.

Mr Trump also frequently complimented the Russian president, saying he was “a leader far more than our president” in reference to then-President Barack Obama at a forum about foreign policy in September.