Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday discussed the Iran war and Ukraine conflict during a “frank and constructive” telephone call, the Kremlin said.
Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December and Washington sought the discussion, Putin’s diplomatic adviser Yury Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
“The focus was placed on the situation surrounding the conflict with Iran and the bilateral negotiations underway with the representatives of the United States on settling the Ukrainian question,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov said Putin called for a “quick political and diplomatic settlement” to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which has been a key ally for Russia.
The Russian leader also gave Trump “a description of the current situation on the line of contact where Russian troops are progressing with a lot of success,” he added, referring to the Ukraine war.
Putin “positively evaluated the mediation efforts undertaken” by Trump in the Ukraine war, the adviser said. A series of talks have been held between Russian and U.S. officials and between Russian, U.S. and Ukrainian officials, but with no breakthrough in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Ushakov said Washington had wanted to “discuss a series of extremely important questions linked to the current international situation.”
“The conversation was serious and constructive,” he added.
Trump later said his conversation with Putin on ending the four-year war in Ukraine was upbeat.
“We were talking about Ukraine, which is just a never-ending fight,” Trump told reporters. “But I think it was a positive call on that subject.”
He added that he will waive some sanctions on oil to boost supply and bring down prices due to market turmoil over the war in the Middle East.
“We have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off till this straightens out,” Trump told reporters after the call with Putin, without specifying any country or providing details on which sanctions would be lifted.
Trump and Putin held a summit in Alaska in August last year.
