Putin and Trump discuss Middle East tensions and Ukraine peace talks over call, confirms Kremlin

Putin, Trump discussed Middle East tensions, Ukraine talks on phone call, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke over a 50-minute phone call on Saturday to discuss the escalating situation in the Middle East and Ukraine peace talks, Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said.

During their talk, Putin told Trump about his recent conversations with leaders of Israel and Iran and assured that Russia has proposed to find mutually acceptable solutions on the Iranian nuclear issue.

While speaking to the media about the conversation that was held between Putin and Trump, Ushakov said, "The dangerous escalation of the situation in the Middle East was naturally at the centre of the exchange of opinions."

Ushakov further said that the US President termed the regional situation as "very alarming and that neither Trump nor Putin ruled out the possibility of a return to negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Ushakov said that Putin also told Trump about the implementation of the agreements during peace talks in Istanbul between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, including the exchange of prisoners of war.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday condemned the Israeli strikes against Iran and conveyed Moscow’s readiness to resolve Tehran’s nuclear issue and participation in de-escalation with Israel.

Lavrov's remark came during a telephone call that was held with the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Reports further said that according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Araghchi’s call was in continuation of President Vladimir Putin’s phone call on Friday night with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The ministry said, "To continue the June 13 phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Russian side has repeatedly stressed that Moscow condemns Israel’s operation against Iran, carried out in violation of the UN Charter and the norms of international law."

“The readiness was confirmed to continue facilitating efforts on settling the situation around Iran’s nuclear programme as well as on de-escalating the conflict between Iran and Israel,” the foreign ministry added.