Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with US President Donald Trump by phone on Monday to discuss the Iran war and the Ukraine conflict, with the Kremlin characterising the talks as “frank and constructive”.
Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December and Washington sought the discussion, Putin’s diplomatic advisor Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
“The accent 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 US-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 conflict, the advisor said. A series of talks have been held between Russian and US officials and between Russian, US 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 and Putin held a summit in Alaska in August last year.
