Kremlin says a Putin-Trump meeting is essential but needs advance preparation and must yield results
MOSCOW, May 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump was essential but required considerable advance preparation and had to yield results when it happened.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was commenting after Trump said he would meet Putin "as soon as we can set it up".
"...Such a meeting is certainly necessary. It is necessary both primarily from the point of view of bilateral Russian-U.S. relations and from the point of view of having a serious conversation at the highest level about international affairs and on regional problems, including, of course, about the crisis over Ukraine," Peskov said.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in Istanbul on Friday for what was billed as their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Commenting on the Istanbul talks, Peskov said that the Russian negotiating team was in constant communication with Moscow and that President Putin was receiving real-time updates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘She's wrong': Trump throws Tulsi Gabbard under the bus on Iran
Donald Trump has said that Tulsi Gabbard and the US intelligence community is 'wrong' about Iran's nuclear capabilities. The US president doubled down on his claim that his own government officials are mistaken about how close Iran is to building a nuclear bomb when challenged by a reporter on Friday. 'What intelligence do you have that Iran is building a nuclear weapon?', Mr Trump was asked outside Air Force One. 'Your intelligence community have said they have no evidence that they are at this point.' 'Well then my intelligence community is wrong,' Mr Trump responded, before asking: 'who in my intelligence community said that?' 'Your director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,' the reporter replies, before the president retorts: 'She's wrong.' Mr Trump added: 'Within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months, they're going to be able to have a nuclear weapon. We can't let that happen.' In March, Ms Gabbard told Congress the intelligence community 'continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.' She also said the US was closely monitoring Iran's nuclear program, noting that the country's 'enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.' Its the second time Mr Trump has directly contradicted Ms Gabbard on the issue, with the US president saying on Thursday that he did not 'care what she thinks'. Speaking aboard Air Force One on his return from the G7 summit in Canada, Mr Trump told reporters: 'I think they were very close to having a weapon.' Ms Gabbard later told CNN that her comments had been taken out of context and that she was on 'the same page' as Mr Trump. General Erik Kurilla, who leads US forces in the Middle East, recently testified to Congress that Iran could produce enough nuclear material for 10 weapons in three weeks. However, he did not say how long it would take to assemble the pieces into a bomb. On Thursday, Mr Trump's press secretary said Iran could produce a nuclear bomb 'within weeks'. 'Let's be very clear, Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,' she said. 'All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would of course pose an existential threat not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the entire world.' A senior intelligence official said Mr Trump was right to be concerned because its uranium enrichment far exceeds what would be needed for domestic purposes. Another senior administration official said Iran was as close to having a nuclear weapon as it could be without having one. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. Mr Trump's contradiction of Ms Gabbard echoed his feuds with US spy leaders during his first term, when he viewed them as part of a 'deep state' that was undermining his agenda. Most notably, he sided with Vladimir Putin in 2018 when asked if Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election, saying Mr Putin was 'extremely strong and powerful in his denial.'
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Stunning map shows the lengths pilots go through to avoid conflict zones
A stunning map of current global flight routes has shown the lengths pilots have to go through to avoid conflict zones. As the Russia-Ukraine war rages on and the Israel-Iran conflict intensifies, the world has become more chaotic, and so has its airspace. A live flight tracking map from Flightradar24 showed planes bustling in western Europe and most of Asia. But there are startling holes in the map, which happen to be where the world's major conflicts are currently taking place. Ukraine had no planes in its airspace, and there were very few planes flying over Russia late Friday afternoon, according to Flightradar24's map. Some Middle Eastern countries, including Israel, Iran and the surrounding nations of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Kuwait, also had no flights coming in or out based on the map. The lack of air travel can be linked to the air strikes Russia and Ukraine as well as Israel and Iran have been launching against each other in respective conflicts. It's been more than three years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The missile and drone strikes and their counterattacks have been non-stop. Earlier this week, Russia launched an overnight attack on Kyiv, killing 28 people and injuring over 100 more, The Associated Press reported, citing local officials. Israel had already been at war with Hamas when it struck Iran's nuclear facilities and hit military targets in the region last Friday. The attacks killed several of Tehran's top military leaders and leading nuclear scientists, and Iran subsequently launched heavy retaliatory strikes against Israel. Besides man-made conflict, natural disasters can also make the jobs of pilots more difficult. 'Airspace closures have become quite common,' Singapore -based aviation consultant Brendan Sobie told CNN. 'It's almost like the new normal for airlines to have to navigate this kind of thing.'
Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says he may support Israel-Iran ceasefire 'depending on circumstances'
WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he might support a ceasefire in the week-old aerial conflict between U.S. ally Israel and its regional rival Iran "depending on the circumstances". Asked by reporters if he would support a ceasefire while negotiations are ongoing, Trump said: "I might, depending on the circumstances". Europe would not be able to help much in the war between Iran and Israel, Trump added. "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one," Trump said. Iran's foreign minister met with European counterparts in Geneva on Friday for talks aimed at establishing a path back to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program. European foreign ministers urged Iran to engage with Washington over its nuclear program, but the talks ended with few signs of progress. "Well, I'm not going to talk about ground forces, because the last thing you want to do is ground forces," Trump said, when asked if ground forces would be needed to defeat Iran. The air war began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran and has raised alarms in a region that has been on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. Trump and the White House say he will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. Trump has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting Washington might join the fighting on Israel's side. Israel is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons, and said it struck Iran to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with its own strikes on Israel. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. Israel's strikes have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Israel says Iranian attacks have killed 24 civilians in Israel.
