Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates
President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.
President Donald Trump held a phone call Wednesday evening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Israeli security cabinet met at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss Lebanon and Iran, according to Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster.
The report said Israel assesses that Trump wants to maintain a naval blockade on Iran, viewing it as a pressure tool that could ultimately force Iranian capitulation. At the same time, it said Trump has instructed the military to prepare for a possible major strike if the blockade fails. Israel, the report added, is preparing for multiple contingencies.
Earlier in the day, following a proposal from Tehran to prioritize reopening the Strait of Hormuz while deferring nuclear negotiations, Trump urged Iran to accept US demands. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote that “Iran can’t get their act together,” adding, “They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!”
Trump also held discussions on Tuesday with US oil executives about the potential impact of a prolonged naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to a White House official cited by Reuters on Wednesday. The talks reportedly focused on how to sustain the pressure campaign if it lasts for months while limiting disruption to global oil markets and shielding American consumers from price spikes.
Later on Wednesday, Trump also spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a statement carried by the Kremlin, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the call lasted about an hour and a half and focused “primarily on the situation around Iran and in the Persian Gulf.”
According to the statement, Putin backed Trump’s extension of the ceasefire and warned of “extremely dire consequences not only for Iran and its neighbors, but for the entire international community, if the US and Israel resort to force again.”
Trump, for his part, “outlined his assessment of the results of the concluded phase of the military confrontation,” the statement added.
Speaking from the Oval Office later on Wednesday, Trump said that Putin “told me he’d like to be involved with the enrichment, if he can help us get it. I said ‘I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine.’ To me, that would be more important.” Russia has on several occasions proposed transferring Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles to Russian territory, though the Kremlin said earlier that the United States had rejected that proposal.
