President
Donald Trump
revealed Vladimir
Putin
called him and offered to help with
Iran
but he, instead, had a snarky comeback for
the Russian president.
‘Vladimir called me up. He said, Can I help you with Iran? I said, No, I don’t need help with Iran. I need help with you,’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he headed to The Hague for a
NATO
meeting.
Trump has been frustrated with Putin for refusing to negotiate a ceasefire with
Ukraine
.
The Russian president has given his own indications of frustration. Over the weekend, Putin slammed the American attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites as ‘absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran.’
President Trump didn’t give the date of his talk with Putin.
The two men speak regularly and their last known conversation was on June 14th, when the Russian leader called Trump to wish him a happy birthday.
‘President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about
Iran
, a country he knows very well,’ the president posted to Truth Social on the day of his 79th birthday.
‘He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,’ Trump added, saying he and Putin spoke for about an hour.
Trump has repeatedly pushed Putin to come to the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine.
A plan for leader-level talks between the Russians and Ukrainians in Turkey fell apart last month, with Putin refusing to show up. Trump, who was in the Middle East at time, has mused about going to Turkey himself to settle matters.
Ultimately only
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the trip, meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At the same time, Russia has ramped up its attacks on Ukraine – with the war’s end seemingly nowhere in sight.
Trump and Putin have a complicated relationship.
While Trump has publicly showed his frustration with the Russian leader, he’s also bragged Putin will only talk to him and, at the G7 meeting in Canada last week, Trump complained the group used to be the G8 and that Putin should be there with the rest of the leaders.
‘You spend so much time talking about Russia, and he’s no longer at the table,’ Trump told the group.
Zelensky was at the summit to meet with G7 leaders.
Moscow and Tehran grew closer during the Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Iran supplied Russia with drones, ballistic missiles, and other support.
After the Israeli and American air strikes in Iran, Putin vowed: ‘For our part, we are making efforts to assist the Iranian people.’
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