
Putin and Trump discussed Iran and Ukraine in phone call, Kremlin official says
While discussing the situation around Iran, Mr Putin emphasised the need to resolve all issues by political and diplomatic means, said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser.
The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel's war aimed at destroying Tehran's nuclear programme.
On the conflict in Ukraine, Mr Ushakov said Mr Trump emphasised his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Mr Putin voiced Moscow's readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv.
At the same time, the Russian leader emphasised that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the 'root causes' of the conflict, Mr Ushakov said.
Mr Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine's push to join Nato and protect Russian speakers in Ukraine – arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its Nato bid and recognise Russia's territorial gains.
Thursday's call follows the Pentagon's confirmation that it is pausing shipments of some weapons to Ukraine as it reviews US military stockpiles. The weapons being held up for Ukraine include air defence missiles, precision-guided artillery and other equipment.
The details on the weapons in some of the paused deliveries were confirmed by a US official and former national security official familiar with the matter.
Mr Ushakov said a suspension of some US weapons shipments to Ukraine was not discussed in the Trump-Putin call.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he may talk to Mr Trump in the coming days about the suspension of US weapons deliveries.
'I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump,' he said.
Asked about his expectations from the Trump-Putin call, he said that 'I'm not sure that they have a lot of common ideas, common topics to talk (about), because they are very different people'.
The previous publicly known call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin came on June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.
The resumed contacts between Mr Trump and Mr Putin appeared to reflect both leaders' interest in mending US-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War amid the conflict in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Mr Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The desperate drive to secure passports for thousands of US-born Haitian kids – before it's too late
Inside a church a few blocks south of downtown Springfield, Ohio, about 30 concerned Haitians, church leaders and community members have gathered on a balmy summer evening to try to map out a plan. It's been just a few days since Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced that Haitian nationals with temporary protected status (TPS) would face termination proceedings in a matter of months. By 2 September, they would be forced out of the US. On 1 July, a federal judge in New York blocked the Department of Homeland Security's attempt to end TPS for Haitian nationals. However, that's done little to alleviate the growing sense of fear: in May the supreme court sided with the Trump administration in a similar case, lifting a ruling that had previously prevented 350,000 Venezuelans on TPS from being forced to leave the country. From pew to pew inside the church, booklets containing advice to help prepare families for raids and immigration enforcement actions are passed around. Three immigration law advocates from a local firm are bombarded with questions such as what to do when in the presence of suspected Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers. Among the group is a small number of charity volunteers working to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster: that thousands of US-born Haitian children could become stateless, or separated from their families. 'In the last several months we realized that the closer we got to the deportations and revocation of statuses meant that all these people who have babies … if they don't have passports for their children, how are they going to take them out of the country with them?' says Casey Rollins, a volunteer at the local St Vincent de Paul chapter. 'All you have to look at is the previous [Trump] administration.' A Reuters report from 2023 found that nearly 1,000 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border in 2017 and 2018 had never been reunited. Springfield is home to about 1,217 and counting American-born Haitian children under the age of four, with several thousand more dependants under the age of 18. While the number of adults in the Ohio town of 60,000 people legally in the country on TPS is not known, local leaders estimate 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian nationals have come to Springfield, drawn by employment opportunities, since 2017. In April, data provided by the Springfield city school district to the Springfield News-Sun found that the district had 1,258 students enrolled as English language learners in K-12 schools, though that doesn't mean all are children of Haitian descent. For three months, Rollins, volunteers at Springfield Neighbors United and others have been working with dozens of Haitians who turn up at charity organizations seeking advice and help every day. One of the most requested issues from parents, Rollins says, is figuring out how to apply for birth certificates for their children, before it's too late. 'If we can't stop the deportations, we want to help get them a passport. That way, if they are deported or go to Canada or another welcoming nation, they'd be able to take the child,' she says. 'If it takes three or four months [to complete the bureaucratic process from securing a birth certificate to acquiring a passport], we have got to get moving on this.' With no prepared and notarized family plan or custodial arrangements in place, vulnerable children could be at risk of being placed in custody as dependants of the state and then being placed with foster families indefinitely. Adding further angst for Haitians is the supreme court's ruling on 27 June limiting injunctions nationwide against the Trump administration's efforts to end birthright citizenship. The humanitarian and security situation in Haiti has been dire for more than a decade. Due to the longstanding war-like conditions prevalent there, successive administrations had been extending TPS for Haitians in the US since 2010. However, based on a recent review by US Citizenship and Immigration Services in consultation with the Department of State: 'The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home,' a homeland security spokesperson claimed on 27 June, when the decision to end TPS for the more than 500,000 Haitian nationals in the US was announced. That's despite the state department posting a 'Do not travel' status update for Haiti that has been in place since last year that finds: 'Since March 2024, Haiti has been under a State of Emergency. Crimes involving firearms are common in Haiti. They include robbery, carjackings, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom.' Commercial flights to Haiti's main international airport in Port-au-Prince have been halted due to the adverse security situation. Members of the Haitian community in Springfield say that flying people to regional airports would leave them open to attacks. 'It's an illusion for people to say that Haiti is safe now. There's over a million Haitians internally displaced. People living in shelters without water and food. They've been displaced by the violence. Even the US embassy cannot operate properly,' says Viles Dorsainvil, the executive director of the Haitian Community Help & Support Center in Springfield. 'They are not here because they want to be here, but because the situation pushed them away. I don't understand why the Department of Homeland Security says the situation has improved. It's just not true.' Experts say the likelihood of a repeat of the scenes that saw families pulled apart and children held in cages at the southern border, as happened during the first Trump administration, is low. However, the potential alternatives are not much more comforting. 'Haitians have entered lawfully. But if the administration follows through with its threats to put people who entered lawfully in expedited removal, that would subject many Haitians to mandatory detention,' says Katie Kersh, managing attorney for the non-profit Advocates for Basic Legal Equality. 'If they have US citizen children, that would result in separation, and I don't think that we are equipped to handle all of those children. We don't have many family detention facilities.' In April, the Clark County Combined Health District estimated that approximately 10,000 Haitians were residing in Springfield. Prior reports suggested some Haitians had left the Ohio city for Canada and elsewhere following the election of Donald Trump in November. Last month, Springfield's Republican mayor, Rob Rue, lamented that Trump 'can't keep our city out of his mouth'. The volunteers have only completed a handful of passport applications so far, having been awaiting the supreme court ruling on birthright citizenship on 27 June. But they are crippled by fear. 'It's a double-edged sword,' says Rollins of the effort they are trying to get going. 'If we do nothing, that's bad. But we are terrified that it could be shut down by the administration.'


The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
PM's Europe ‘reset' has delivered change in French tactics on small boats: No 10
Sir Keir Starmer's 'reset' with Europe has delivered a change in French tactics on tackling small boats crossing the Channel, Downing Street has said. Number 10 said reports French police officers had used knives to puncture a boat in waters off the French coast for the first time were a 'significant moment' that could have 'a major impact' on smuggling gangs. A spokesman said: 'We welcome action from French law enforcement to take action in shallow waters, and what you have seen in recent weeks is a toughening of their approach.' The Government has repeatedly pushed for French authorities to do more to prevent boats leaving the shore, including changing existing rules to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water. Those changes have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she welcomed the reports, adding she had been 'working very closely with the French interior minister' to ensure the rules were changed 'as swiftly as possible'. Downing Street attributed the change in stance from French law enforcement was thanks to the Prime Minister's 'reset' in relations with Europe, as he has looked to heal the wounds caused by the Brexit years. The spokesman said: 'No government has been able to get this level of co-operation with the French. That is important. 'We are looking to see France change its maritime tactics, and that is down to the Prime Minister's efforts to reset our relationship across Europe.' But a charity operating in northern France told the PA news agency that French police had already been intervening in crossing attempts in shallow waters despite the new rules not yet being in place. Kate O'Neill, advocacy coordinator at Project Play, said: 'This is not a new tactic … it's something that has been happening for a long time in Calais and surrounding areas.' She also warned it was a 'dangerous' tactic as children were 'often in the middle of the boats'. Responding to footage of Friday's incident broadcast by the BBC, Ms O'Neill said: 'The events taking place in the BBC coverage are not only upsetting to watch, but show clear evidence of police officers endangering a child.' She added: 'While talks are ongoing to allow the interception of boats in shallow water, it remains illegal at this time under maritime law and violates the obligations of the UK and France under international law – including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 'This footage highlights the danger involved in intercepting and slashing boats in the water, and we implore decision makers to consider the potentially fatal consequences of allowing this to take place even more frequently.' In its manifesto last year, Labour promised to 'smash the gangs' smuggling people across the Channel in small boats. But a year into Sir Keir's premiership, the number of people making the journey has increased to record levels. Some 20,600 people have made the journey so far this year, up 52% on the same period in 2024. Downing Street acknowledged that the numbers 'must come down', but could not guarantee that they would in the next year. On Friday, Ms Cooper said part of the reason for the increase in crossings was a rise in the number of people being crammed onto each boat. She suggested that all migrants who arrive on an overcrowded boat where a child has died should face prosecution. Ms Cooper told the BBC's Today programme it was 'totally appalling' that children were being 'crushed to death on these overcrowded boats, and yet the boat still continues to the UK'. The Government has already included a new offence of 'endangering life at sea' in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently making its way through Parliament. Ms Cooper has previously said this would allow the authorities to act against people 'involved in behaviour that puts others at risk of serious injury or death, such as physical aggression, intimidation, or rejecting rescue attempts'. But on Friday, she appeared to go further by suggesting even getting on an overcrowded boat could result in prosecution. She said: 'If you've got a boat where we've seen all of those people all climb on board that boat, they are putting everybody else's lives at risk.' Some 15 children are reported to have died while attempting the crossing in 2024, and Ms O'Neill told PA police tactics were making the situation more dangerous. During a series of broadcast interviews, Ms Cooper also declined to confirm reports the UK was looking at a 'one in, one out' policy that would see people who had crossed the Channel returned to Europe in exchange for asylum seekers with connections to Britain. Asked about the policy, she would only tell Sky News that ministers were 'looking at a range of different issues' and 'different ways of doing returns'. Sir Keir is expected to hold a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, at which efforts to tackle small boat crossings are likely to be high on the agenda.


The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Starmer and Macron to host coalition of the willing meeting next week
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting of the coalition of the willing when the French President visits Britain next week. The Prime Minister and France's leader will dial into a meeting with allies on Thursday, as Mr Macron makes his first state visit to the UK, it is understood. Britain and France have led efforts to establish the coalition, a peacekeeping force aimed at policing any future ceasefire deal in Ukraine, and deterring further threats by Russia. The effectiveness of the coalition has been called into question, as only London and Paris have so far indicated they would provide frontline soldiers towards it. The peacekeeping mission would also be predicated on American air support, something which US President Donald Trump has been unwilling to openly say he would provide. Russia launched a massive barrage of drone strikes on Kyiv overnight, reportedly the largest since the war began. Some 550 drones and missiles were fired at Ukraine in the strikes, with the capital Kyiv the primary target. At least 23 people were injured, with 14 taken to hospital, according to the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko. The strikes came hours after Mr Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, pushing him to accept a truce. No 10 said the continued Russia strikes were 'clear evidence that Putin was not serious about peace', as it condemned them. A Downing Street spokesman added: 'Since Ukraine agreed to an unconditional ceasefire over four months ago, 700 civilians have been killed, more than 3,000 injured, 'We are, alongside our allies, absolutely united in support of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We are clear that must start with a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.' The UK's immediate focus is 'stepping up our support Ukraine, ratcheting up the pressure on Russia', he said. Mr Trump has halted some shipments of critical weapons to Kyiv in recent days, including those used for air defences. Ukraine has warned the move will prevent it from defending against Russian air strikes.