Camilla Jessen
The U.S. president rebuffs Kremlin overtures on Israel-Iran diplomacy.
US President Donald Trump has turned down Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to help solve the Israel-Iran conflict. Instead, Trump urged Putin to first deal with his own war in Ukraine.
At a press conference on June 17, Trump said he recently spoke with Putin, though the White House has not confirmed this particular phone call. The only known call between them took place on June 14.
According to Trump, during their conversation, Putin said Russia was willing to act as a peace mediator in the Middle East. But Trump told him that was not a good idea.
“I said, do me a favor. Mediate your own,” Trump told reporters. “Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? You can worry about this later.”
This was not the first time Putin’s role as a peace broker was questioned.
French President Emmanuel Macron also rejected the idea of Russia acting as a mediator, saying Moscow lacks the trust and standing needed for such a role.
“I do not believe that Russia, which is currently involved in a high-intensity war and has for several years failed to comply with the UN Charter, can act as a mediator,” Macron said, according to The Times of Israel.
Earlier, Trump had suggested that Putin could help ease the rising tensions between Israel and Iran. But Macron and other world leaders strongly disagreed with that idea, especially while Russia is still fighting in Ukraine.