Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump held a phone call on Wednesday in which the Russian leader put forward ideas on resolving the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Putin also proposed repeating a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II next month, Ushakov said. Putin announced a similar three-day truce last year, but Kyiv dismissed it as insufficient and called instead for an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
First Direct Contact Since March
The call was the first publicly announced conversation between the two leaders since 9 March, nine days after the US and Israel launched a war with Iran.
Ushakov did not say what proposals Putin had made on Iran. Moscow has previously offered to take enriched uranium out of the country. Trump later said Putin had offered during the call to help with Iran’s enriched uranium, but that he had told the Russian leader he would rather see Moscow focus on ending the war in Ukraine.
Ushakov told reporters that Putin had proposed the temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for the 9 May celebrations marking the Soviet Union’s role in the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. He said Trump reacted positively.
Trump later told reporters that he had discussed a possible ceasefire in Ukraine with Putin, saying he had proposed “a little bit of a ceasefire” and believed the Russian leader might agree.
Ushakov added that the conversation lasted more than one and a half hours.
(reuters, lud)