Trump Says He, Putin Agree 'War Between Israel-Iran Should End'

(MENAFN- IANS) Washington, June 15 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has said that he had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the tensions in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and both of them agreed that "this war in Israel-Iran should end".

"He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end," Trump wrote on Saturday on his social media platform Truth Social, adding that Putin knows Iran "very well".

Trump said he also explained to the Russian President that the Russia-Ukraine war "should also end" during the one-hour call, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week," the US President said.

"He (Putin) is doing the planned prisoner swaps -- large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides."

Saturday was Trump's 79th birthday.

Trump said that Putin wished him a happy birthday during the phone call.

Putin and his US counterpart Trump had discussed the situation in the Middle East in a phone conversation, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

"The conversation lasted for 50 minutes, it was substantive, sincere and very useful," Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.

"Naturally, it was focused on the dangerous exacerbation of the situation in the Middle East."

Putin denounced the Israeli military operation against Iran and expressed grave concern over the possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire Middle East region, he said in a statement.

"Putin emphasised the importance of preventing the conflict from escalating and the readiness of the Russian side to engage in possible mediation efforts," he said.

Trump also views the situation as very alarming, he said, adding that the Russian and US Presidents do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on Iran's nuclear programme.

Trump noted that the team of US negotiators is ready to resume work with Iranian representatives, according to Ushakov.

Putin also informed Trump about the execution of the agreements reached by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on June 2 and expressed readiness to continue talks with the Ukrainian side after June 22, he said.

Trump took note of this information and reiterated his interest in bringing the Russian-Ukrainian war to a speedy conclusion, he added.

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