Putin, Trump discuss Iran and Ukraine in phone call

Moscow: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran, Ukraine and other issues by phone on Thursday, the Kremlin said, in their sixth publicly disclosed chat since Trump returned to the White House.

While discussing the situation around Iran, Putin emphasised the

need to resolve all issues by political and diplomatic means, said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser. The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying Tehran’s nuclear programme.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasised his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv. At the same time, the Russian leader emphasised that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict, Ushakov said.

Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine’s push to join NATO and protect Russian speakers in Ukraine -- arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and recognise Russia’s territorial gains. Thursday’s call follows the Pentagon’s confirmation that it’s pausing shipment of some weapons to Ukraine as it reviews US military stockpiles.

The weapons being held up for Ukraine include air defence missiles, precision-guided artillery and other equipment.

The details on the weapons in some of the paused deliveries were confirmed by a US official and former national security official familiar with the matter. They both requested anonymity to discuss what is being held up as the Pentagon has yet to provide details.