US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a phone call on Wednesday renewed his offer for Russia to act as a third party to handle Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.Trump said Putin proposed that Moscow could help take charge of Iran’s roughly 970 pounds of enriched uranium, The Hill reported.“He told me he’d like to be involved with the enrichment – if he can help us get it,” Trump said, recounting the conversation. “I said, I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine. To me, that would be more important,” Trump said of Putin’s offer, adding that his priority remains the Ukraine war.Addressing reporters at the Oval Office, Trump also said, “Putin doesn’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon either,” while noting that he had asked the Russian leader for a “little bit of a ceasefire” in Ukraine. Russia’s role as a potential intermediary has also been under discussion with Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, particularly on the possibility of removing Iran’s highly enriched uranium from the country.Trump also suggested that the conflicts involving Iran and Ukraine could be on similar timelines, saying, “I don’t know. Maybe they’re on a similar time table. Ukraine, militarily, they’re defeated. You wouldn’t know that by reading the fake news.”The developments come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, with Trump signaling he intends to maintain the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. The US has been intercepting Iranian-linked vessels, while Tehran has warned it could target ships that do not coordinate with its military. “They have to cry uncle, that’s all they have to do,” Trump said of Iran. “Just say, ‘We give up. We give up.’ But their economy is really in trouble,” he added.In an interview with Axios, Trump defended the blockade as a key pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. “The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing,” Trump told Axios.“They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he added. He also rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz before talks, insisting that Tehran must first address US concerns. While describing the blockade as his primary leverage, Trump also indicated that military options remain under consideration, though he did not elaborate, the report added.Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned of serious consequences if hostilities escalate further. Presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin had cautioned that any ground operation on Iranian territory would be “completely unacceptable and dangerous,” underlining Moscow’s concern over a wider conflict.
