‘Both Wars Should End’: Trump Discusses Iran and Ukraine With Putin, EU Chief
US President Donald Trump said Saturday that he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed the conflict between Iran and Israel “should end,” adding “to which I explained his war should also end.”
Trump said in a social media post that he took a phone call from Putin Saturday morning who called to “very nicely wish me a happy birthday, but, to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well.”
Trump, who is the oldest person to take the presidency, turned 79 on June 14, the same day as a military parade in Washington DC celebrating the US Army’s 250th birthday.
Kremlin officials seem to be using US leaders’ birthdays as an opportunity to arrange phone calls to Washington.
As Kyiv Post reported last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also initiated a “birthday call” to his US counterpart Marco Rubio on May 28, during which the top US diplomat seized the opportunity to reiterate the administration’s calls “for constructive, good faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path to ending this war.”
“We talked at length,” Trump wrote on Saturday about his conversation with Putin, adding “much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week”
Putin, according to Trump, “is doing the planned prisoner swaps – large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides.”
Trump continued to add that Putin believes both wars should end, saying: “The call lasted approximately one hour. He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.”
The Trump-Putin call came as the White House announced the cancellation of the planned nuclear talks on Sunday in Muscat due to increasing tension between Israel and Iran.
“While there will be no meeting Sunday, we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” a senior administration official told reporters.
Trump also spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday to discuss the tense geopolitical situation in the Middle East, as well as the need for close coordination on the impact on energy markets, according to the EU chief.
“We also discussed the situation in Ukraine, the imperative for a ceasefire and the need to keep up pressure on Russia,” von der Leyen wrote in a social media post.
The call came just ahead of the G7 Summit, which will kick off in Kananaskis, Canada on June 15.
Source: Alex Raufoglu