U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Saturday in a call that reportedly lasted nearly an hour. The conversation, which occurred on Trump’s 79th birthday, was first announced by the former president on his Truth Social platform.
“President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but more importantly, to talk about Iran—a country he knows very well,” Trump wrote. “We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but he feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.”
Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov provided further details later that day, describing the call as “meaningful, frank, and most importantly, very useful.” According to Ushakov, Putin—who has publicly condemned Israel’s recent strikes on Iran—expressed deep concern over the situation in the Middle East. He also reminded Trump that Moscow had earlier proposed a framework to address Iran’s nuclear program.
The two leaders had last spoken on June 4, when Trump asked Putin to assist in helping to facilitate negotiations regarding Iran. “Despite such a complicated situation, the Russian and American presidents didn’t rule out a return to the negotiating track on the Iranian nuclear program,” Ushakov stated.
While the call was dominated by the issue of the Middle East, the two leaders did briefly discuss the conflict in Ukraine. Ushakov noted that this discussion was limited to the ongoing prisoner exchanges and the recovery of fallen soldiers’ remains—an agreement that was recently negotiated between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.
Notably, Trump made no mention—aside from a passing remark on Truth Social that “his war should end too”—of any renewed American role in advancing a peace process between Moscow and Kiev.
Ushakov emphasized that Putin reiterated Russia’s readiness to continue negotiations with Ukraine.