KEY POINTS
- Trump announces US-Iran nuclear talks next week
- Trump claims US strikes ‘set back’ Iran’s nuclear programme
- The US President praises Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, calling him a “remarkable” person
- Trump considers sending more Patriot missiles to Ukraine
- Says he will speak to Putin soon to end the Ukraine war
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the war between Iran and Israel was over and announced that the United States will begin nuclear talks with Tehran next week, after a recently brokered ceasefire.
Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump said, “We’re going to talk to them next week. We may sign an agreement. I don’t know. To me, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
He added that he might seek assurances from Iran that it won’t pursue nuclear weapons, though he believes Iran is not moving in that direction: “They’ve had it.”
Trump credited the unprecedented US attacks with the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and said they had set the country’s programme back “decades”.
But leaked US intelligence cast doubt on that assessment, saying the strikes had likely delayed Tehran by just a few months.
Before the agreement of a ceasefire on Tuesday, Israel had pounded Iranian nuclear and military sites over the course of 12 days of war, while Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel in their deadliest-ever confrontation.
The United States joined the fray in support of its ally, hitting two nuclear facilities with massive bunker-buster bombs over the weekend, while a guided missile from a submarine struck a third.
‘Legitimate rights’
Reflecting on the end of the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, Trump declared, “We think it’s over. I don’t think they’re going to be going back at each other.” He described both nations as “tired and exhausted” from the intense and violent fighting.
“They’re not going to be building bombs for a long time,” said Trump, adding the strikes had set back the programme by “decades” and that the ceasefire that he declared was going “very well”.
“We may sign an agreement. I don’t know,” he added. “I mean, they had a war, they fought, now they’re going back to their world. I don’t care if I have an agreement or not.”
Commenting on the Iranian missile strike on the US base in Qatar, Trump said that all 14 missiles were intercepted.
“They were very nice. They gave us warning. They said, ‘We’re going to shoot them. Is 1 p.m. okay?’” he added, noting that the base was evacuated in time except for the gunners.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had said on Tuesday his country was willing to return to negotiations over its nuclear programme, but that it would continue to “assert its legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic energy.
Trump Praises Field Marshal Asim Munir
During the conversation, the US President also said that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir is a remarkable person and an inspiring personality, and that he had visited him at his office.
Trump reiterated that it was the US that ended the war between Pakistan and India.
He emphasised that both countries are major nuclear powers and stated that he told both India and Pakistan to focus on trade.
Ukraine War
Trump said on Wednesday after talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that he is considering sending more Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine to help Kyiv fend off Russian attacks.
Trump said the anti-missile missiles are “very hard to get” but that “we are going to see if we can make some of them available.”
Trump, at a press conference after attending the annual NATO summit, said Zelensky would like to end the war. Trump said he would speak to Putin about it soon.
“Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war,” Trump said.
Trump also spoke about his meeting with Zelenskyy, describing it as cordial. “It was very nice, actually. We had little rough times, but he couldn’t have been nicer,” he said.
While a ceasefire was not discussed, Trump said he plans to speak with Putin to explore ways to end the conflict.
Zelensky said Wednesday he had discussed a ceasefire in Ukraine with Trump on the sidelines of NATO’s summit in The Hague.
Zelensky said on social media that the meeting was “long and substantive” adding: “We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people.”
Spain to ‘Pay’ on Trade for Resisting NATO Spending Hike
Trump threatened to punish Spain on trade over Madrid’s resistance to commit to NATO’s new headline defence spending target of 5 percent of GDP.
“They want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade, because I’m not going to let that happen. It’s unfair,” Trump told journalists at the end of NATO’s Hague summit.
NATO allies defence spending
Highlighting outcomes of the NATO summit, Trump said a major achievement was convincing allies to increase their defence spending to 5 percent of GDP—something he claimed “no one thought possible.”
He praised this as a “monumental win” for the US, which he said had been bearing more than its fair share.
He emphasised that the additional funding should be directed toward military hardware, and that Europe taking more responsibility for its own security could help prevent future conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war.
