KEY POINTS
- Trump said Putin had “very strongly” pledged to respond to Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian airfields
- The Kremlin described the conversation as “positive” and “productive” Trump told Putin the US had not been informed in advance of Ukraine’s drone strikes
- Trump said Putin offered to participate in US-Iran nuclear talks
- Putin also spoke with Pope Leo, expressing support for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine and Iran, warning that a ceasefire in Ukraine remained distant. He added that Putin had “very strongly” pledged to respond to Kyiv’s recent drone attack on Russian bombers.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump said that there was no “immediate peace” on the horizon in Ukraine following what he described as a one-hour and 15-minute call with the Russian president.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin described talks between Putin and Trump about the Ukraine conflict as “positive” and “productive”.
“At the end of the conversation, the two leaders described the exchange of views as positive and quite productive and confirmed their wish to stay in permanent contact,” Putin’s diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Ushakov said that Trump told Putin that Ukraine had not informed him in advance of its major drone strikes against Russian airfields at the weekend.
“The subject of the strikes on the military airfields was also discussed. Donald Trump underlined that the American side had not been informed in advance,” Putin’s diplomatic adviser said as quoted by AFP.
Putin offers to participate in US-Iran nuclear talks
On Iran, Trump said that Putin had offered to “participate” in talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, as Trump accused the Islamic republic of “slow walking” its response to Washington’s offer of a deal.
The call came three days after Ukraine conducted a massive, daring drone attack against Russian military airbases, saying it had destroyed several Russian nuclear-capable bombers worth billions of dollars.
Trump said that he and Putin had “discussed the attack on Russia’s docked aeroplanes, by Ukraine and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides.”
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump said in his post.
Trump did not say whether he had warned Putin of any such retaliation against Ukraine, which Washington has supported to the tune of billions of dollars in its fight against Russia.
Definitive answer’ –
The Republican has repeatedly alarmed Kyiv and Western allies by appearing to side with Putin over the war and had a blazing Oval Office row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But Trump has also shown growing frustration with Putin as Russia has so far derailed the US president’s efforts to honour a campaign pledge to end the war within 24 hours.
The call between Trump and Putin did however show that Washington and Moscow may be eying cooperation on another key global issue — Iran.
Trump said he believed they were both “in agreement” that Iran could not have a nuclear weapon, and that time was running out for Tehran to respond to US offers of a deal.
“President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion,” Trump said.
The US president added: “It is my opinion that Iran has been slow-walking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!”
Putin told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Moscow was ready to help advance talks on a nuclear deal, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
But Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier Wednesday that Washington’s proposal was against Tehran’s national interest, amid sharp differences over whether Tehran can continue to enrich uranium.
Putin discusses Ukraine with Pope Leo
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that Putin discussed the war in Ukraine with Pope Leo in a telephone call on Wednesday, claiming he wanted peace through diplomacy.
Putin however also claimed “the regime in Kyiv is betting on an escalation of the conflict and carrying out of acts of sabotage against civil infrastructure on Russian territory,” Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin “reaffirmed his interest in bringing about peace by political and diplomatic means”, the Kremlin said, describing the call as “constructive”.
He did so “underlining that in order to come to a definitive, just and comprehensive settlement to the crisis, it was necessary to eliminate the deep-seated causes”.
Russia and Ukraine on Monday swapped plans for ending their three-year war during talks in Istanbul.
Leo has reportedly said he is willing to host peace talks between the two countries.
Putin thanked Leo for “his willingness to contribute to a settlement” of the conflict, the Kremlin said.
