Putin puts forward ideas on Iran in call with Trump

Kremlin says two presidents also discuss Ukraine truce

MOSCOW:

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a phone call on Wednesday in which the Russian leader put forward ideas on resolving the conflict over Iran's nuclear programme, a Kremlin aide said.

Putin also proposed a repeat of a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two next month, the aide said. Putin announced a similar truce last year which lasted three days but was not agreed with Kyiv.

The phone call was the first publicly announced conversation between the two leaders since March 9, nine days after the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov gave no details on what proposals Putin had made on Iran, but he said any resumption of hostilities in the Middle East would "inevitably have extremely harmful consequences" and was in no one's interest.

"Russia is firmly committed to providing full support for diplomatic efforts to seek a peaceful resolution of the crisis and has offered a number of considerations aimed at resolving disagreements over Iran's nuclear programme," Ushakov told reporters after the two leaders' conversation.

Russia had previously offered to take Iran's stock of enriched uranium out of the country.

Ushakov said Russia would maintain contact with Iran, with which it has a "strategic partnership", as well as with Gulf states and Israel to ensure there would not be a resumption of hostilities in the region.

He said the telephone call lasted more than an hour and a half and was "conducted in a friendly manner, candid and business-like".

On the Ukraine conflict, Ushakov told reporters that Putin had proposed the temporary ceasefire for celebrations on May 9 to mark the Soviet Union's part in the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two.

"Trump actively supported this initiative, noting that the holiday marks our common victory over Nazism in World War Two," he said.

He added: "Donald Trump believes that a deal to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine is already close."

He said Putin told the U.S. president that Russian forces in Ukraine "hold the strategic initiative and are pressing on enemy positions".

Putin, Ushakov said, "clearly said that Kyiv was resorting to openly terrorist methods by attacking civilian sites on Russian territory," a reference to frequent Ukrainian strikes on areas from its borders, particularly in the oil sector.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he discussed a possible ceasefire in the four-year war in Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He spoke after the Kremlin reported the two leaders discussed a temporary Ukraine ceasefire to mark the anniversary of the end ?of World War Two next month.

"We had a good talk, I've known him a long time," said Trump. The two leaders had their last publicly reported phone call on March 9, although Trump has indicated they speakregularly.

Trump, speaking to reporters as he met with astronauts from the Artemis II mission in the Oval Office, said he suggested "a little bit of a ceasefire" in the war in Ukraine in his phone call with the Russian leader.

"And I think he might do that," Trump said, then asked reporters whether Putin had already announced a ceasefire.

Putin announced a similar truce last year that lasted three days but was not agreed with Kyiv. Trump has a history of making positive comments about Putin and sharply criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for not agreeing to make a deal with Russia to end the war.