Contents Of President Trump's Call With Putin Immediately Leaked To The Washington Post

Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday on his reelection, including a section in his briefing materials in all-capital letters stating "DO NOT CONGRATULATE," according to officials familiar with the call.

Trump also chose not to heed talking points from aides instructing him to condemn Putin about the recent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the United Kingdom with a powerful nerve agent, a case that both the British and U.S. governments have blamed on Moscow.

The president's conversation with Putin, which Trump called a "very good call," prompted fresh criticism of his muted tone toward one of the United States's biggest geopolitical rivals amid the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russia's election interference and the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian officials.

Although the Trump administration has taken a tougher stance toward Russia recently -- including new sanctions last week on some entities for election meddling and cyber attacks -- the president has declined to forcefully join London in denouncing Moscow for the poisoning of Sergie Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury this month. They remain critically ill.

Trump told reporters that he had offered his well wishes on Putin's new six-year term during a conversation on a range of topics, including arms control and the security situations in Syria and North Korea. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Skripal's case was not discussed. Information on Syria and North Korea were also provided to the president in writing before the call, officials said.

"We'll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future," Trump said of Putin, though Sanders emphasized that nothing was planned.

The White House press office declined to comment on the briefing materials given to Trump. Two people familiar with the notecards acknowledged that they included instructions not to congratulate Putin. But a senior White House official emphasized that national security adviser H.R. McMaster did not mention the issue during a telephone briefing with the president, who was in the White House residence ahead of and during his conversation with Putin.

It was not clear whether Trump read the notes, administration officials said. Trump, who initiated the call, opened it with the congratulations for Putin, one person familiar with the conversation said.