Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump greeted each other at an APEC summit in Vietnam, shook hands and exchanged a few words, RIA Novosti reported.

Trump approached Putin at a photo session of world leaders in the Vietnamese city of Danang and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.

Trump and Putin smiled and stood next to each other for the traditional group photograph. Then they parted to sit at different parts of the table. 

The Russian President arrived in Vietnam on Friday morning. Putin has already held talks with the President of the Philippines.

There would be no formal meeting between the two presidents, whose only previous face-to-face meetings since Trump's January inauguration took place at a G20 summit in July.