United States President Donald Trump discussed options for ending the war against Iran with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call today, the Kremlin said, as Trump called the war “very complete”.
Putin “expressed several thoughts aimed at a quick political and diplomatic end to the Iranian conflict, including contacts that have taken place with leaders of Gulf states, the president of Iran and leaders of other countries” during the call, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
Ushakov also said the two leaders discussed a potential end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Venezuela’s political situation.
Another round of talks to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war was postponed last week amid the war in Iran, and no new date has been announced. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the country is ready to engage in peace talks “at any moment”.
“I think the [Iran] war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force,” Trump claimed in an interview with CBS News, meanwhile. The U.S. is “very far” ahead of its initially-estimated 4-5 week timeframe for the war, he said.
Trump also said that the U.S. was considering taking control of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important waterway where around 20% of global oil flows usually transit. Iran has closed the Strait during the war.
French President Emmanuel Macron said today that France and its allies are planning a mission to escort ships through the strait “after the most intense phase of the conflict has ended”.
France has yet to announce which countries would take part, but has said it would include countries both in and outside the European Union.
“It is unlikely that any security will be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz in light of the fires of war ignited by the United States and Israel in the region,” wrote Iranian Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani.
