phones. he talked to saudi king salman. they agreed to protect refugees with safe zones, but no mention of the refugees by the saudis. then there was the anticipated conversation with president trump and the russian president vladimir putin. what was said? how did they get along and most importantly, what was not discussed? let's bring in clare sebastian from moscow. clare. >> reporter: absolutely, john. it was an elephant in the room, you might say. they did not mention the word sanctions once. that was widely anticipated that they talk about the u.s. lifting the sanctions on russia. they did say they would look to restore trade and economic ties with the countries. nothing to do with the alleged hacking with the u.s. election. neither was nato.