The Kremlin has reported that President Trump held a 50-minute phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
During the call, Putin briefed Trump on his recent discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masaud Pezeshkian, emphasizing the “importance of preventing escalation,” as noted by Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov.
Ushakov conveyed that Trump described the situation in the Middle East as “very uneasy” but deemed the Israeli strike “effective” and “accepted” it.
While the majority of their conversation focused on Israeli-Iranian issues, they also touched on developments concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We talked at length. Less time was spent discussing Russia/Ukraine, but we plan to address that next week,” Trump mentioned in a Saturday post. He also noted that Putin feels the conflict in Israel and Iran should come to an end.
Trump has shown a willingness to pursue talks with Iran regarding its expanding nuclear program. His envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkov, is set to speak with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi in Muscat, Oman, marking their sixth round of discussions. However, Iranian officials had previously stepped back from talks following an Israeli strike last Thursday night.
A senior U.S. administration official indicated that the meeting on Sunday is not expected to happen and wished to remain anonymous when discussing these diplomatic efforts.
Officials affirmed that the administration is dedicated to ongoing consultations and hope that Iran will return to the negotiating table soon.
A senior White House representative told a sister network that “if Iran is responsive, it has the potential to resolve this conflict effectively.”
Furthermore, Ushakov informed Trump about the implementation of an agreement reached between Russian and Ukrainian delegations during their meeting in Turkey on June 2.
Ushakov mentioned that the Kremlin is keen to continue discussions with Ukraine, while Trump expressed his desire to bring an end to Europe’s largest land war since World War II.
Trump also noted that Putin is orchestrating a planned prisoner exchange, with many individuals set to be swapped soon, and remarked that their conversation lasted “about an hour.”
In a lighter moment, Trump shared that Putin wished him a “very happy birthday.”
