Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. climate envoy John Kerry that Moscow and Washington have a shared interest in battling climate change, a rare area of common ground between the rivals. 

"The climate problem is one of the areas where Russia and the United States have common interests and similar approaches," Putin said in a phone call with Kerry who is visiting Moscow, the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Putin said Moscow "attaches great importance" to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and "advocates de-politicizing" dialogue on climate change.