Fighting and suffering in Syria have gone on "far too long", Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed in a "very good" telephone conversation.

The two world leaders discussed ways of ensuring "lasting peace" in the region during their call on Tuesday, according to the White House.

This included establishing "safe zones" in Syria and sending a US representative to upcoming ceasefire talks in Kazakhstan.

Mr Putin and Trump also spoke of how best to resolve the "very dangerous" situation in North Korea, officials said.

And a statement from the Kremlin revealed the two had explored the possibility of meeting in person in Germany later this year.

The one-to-one conversation came a number of weeks after the US called air strikes in Syria in response to an alleged chemical attack on Syrian citizens - causing considerable friction with Russia.

It also preceded Syria ceasefire talks scheduled to be held in Astana, the Kazakh capital, on Wednesday.

A third ceasefire in six years was agreed last December between Russia and Turkey, but the truce proved fragile with frequent outbreaks of hostilities.

The latest conversation between the two presidents represents the latest international effort to bring an end to the bloody six-year civil war.

A White House statement read: "President Trump and President Putin agreed that the suffering in Syria has gone on for far too long and that all parties must do all they can to end the violence.

" The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons."

During the conversation, two pair went on to discuss "at length" eradicating terrorism throughout the Middle East.

Also on the agenda was the topic of North Korea.

Tensions between the US and east Asian nation have risen significantly in recent weeks as the latter presses on with its nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea has repeatedly defied sanctions and pressure not to test fire nuclear missiles, which experts believe will soon be capable of hitting the US mainland.

The Kremlin, which called talks business-like and constructive, said the two leaders hoped to meet face-to-face in July around the time of the G20 summit in July.