Trump discussed Ukraine and Iran conflicts with Putin
Nandita Bose and Bo Erickson |
US President Donald Trump says he had a “very good call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
“There’s tremendous hatred between President Putin and (Ukraine’s) President Zelenskiy. They can’t seem to get it together, but I think it was a positive call on that subject,” Trump said.
Trump added that Putin “wants to be helpful” with the Iran conflict.
“I said, ‘You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine-Russia war over with. That will be more helpful,'” Trump told reporters in a Monday evening press conference at his Florida golf club.
A foreign policy aide for Putin said the Russian president proposed an idea for a “quick political and diplomatic end to the Iranian conflict”.
“Let me say right away that the conversation was businesslike, frank, and constructive, as is typical in dialogue between Russian and American leaders,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said in a statement.
According to the Kremlin, the call was initiated by Trump.
During the call, Putin outlined his ideas for a swift political and diplomatic settlement to the war involving Iran, referring to contacts with leaders of Gulf states, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and other countries, Ushakov said.
Trump recently has expressed dismay about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which started more than four years ago.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was ready for US-backed peace talks “at any moment” but its partners’ attention were focused on the Iran conflict, adding that the US had asked to postpone an upcoming meeting.
Zelenskiy said Russia was trying to manipulate the conflict in its favour and aiming to turn Iran’s strikes on its neighbours and US bases into “a second front of Russia’s war against Ukraine”.
“At the moment, the partners’ priority and all attention are focused on the situation around Iran,” he posted on X after meeting the Ukrainian negotiating team.
“However, Ukraine is ready for a meeting at any moment, in a format that can help and that will be realistic in terms of ending the war,” Zelenskiy said.
He said he had instructed the team to inform the US negotiators that Ukraine was ready for joint work with the US in protection against drone strikes.
Ukraine had offered its experience in countering drones to US forces in the Gulf, he said.
Turning to talks with Russia, he said: “We see that the Russians are now trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region in favour of their aggression, and also to effectively turn the Iranian regime’s strikes against its neighbours and American bases into a second front of Russia’s war against Ukraine and, more broadly, against the entire West.”
Zelenskiy’s office earlier denied press reports about a possible meeting in Istanbul on Wednesday between Ukrainian, Russian and US delegations.
Last week, talks planned in Abu Dhabi between Ukraine and Russia under US mediation were postponed due to security concerns.
with DPA
Reuters