US President Donald Trump announced that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, offered him assistance in the war with Iran during a phone call on Wednesday, specifically regarding enriched uranium.
“He wants to help,” Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office. “I told him, ‘Before you help me, I want you to end your war.'”
Earlier, Trump described the conversation with Putin as “very good” and said a solution to the conflict in Ukraine would be reached “relatively quickly.”
“He told me he wants to get involved in the enrichment process. He can help us get it,” Trump added.
Moscow had previously proposed taking control of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, in line with its role in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump did not explicitly rule out the possibility of Iran shipping uranium to Russia on Wednesday, but suggested he was more interested in resolving the war in Ukraine.
He said of Putin: “I’ve known him for a long time. I think he’s been ready to make a deal for a while. I think some people have hindered his efforts in that regard.”
