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According to the White House, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are in sync when it comes to gaining nuclear weapons.
Speaking on the phone on Tuesday morning on how to put an end to the war in Ukraine, Trump and Putin agreed that Iran should not gain access to weapons that allow Tehran to erase Israel, the White House said.
“Leaders have spoken widely about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts,” the White House said in a statement after the call. “They will further discuss the need to stop the spread of strategic weapons and engage others to ensure the widest possible application. The two leaders shared their view that Iran should not be in a position to destroy Israel.”
Trump revives “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on March 18, 2025 on how to end the war in Ukraine. (Contributor/Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Russia is urging the US to ease sanctions against Iran, which has crippled Tehran’s economy. A Russian representative met with Chinese and Iranian counterparts in Beijing on Friday, pushing the US to withdraw “illegal” sanctions and resume nuclear debate, according to a statement from the three countries.
“The three countries have reiterated that political and diplomatic engagement and dialogue based on the principle of mutual respect are the only viable and practical options in this regard,” China’s Deputy Minister Ma Zhaoxu read aloud in a joint statement on Friday.
Russia maintains a comfortable relationship with Iran and uses Iranian drones in the war with Ukraine. For example, Russia adopted Iranian-made Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 series drones in 2022 and began attacking areas of Ukrainian artillery targets and Ukrainian power distribution grids.
In 2023, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued a report detailing how Iran accessed “hundreds” of one-way attack air drones to Russia. Iran denied that the drones were born from Tehran, but the Defense Intelligence Agency said it had obtained wreckage from the Ukrainian attack “which clearly demonstrates Iran’s support for Russia.”
Trump believed Iran was “close” to developing nuclear weapons in February, and his administration revived the biggest pressure campaign against Iran through sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports in February.
Additionally, Trump announced on March 7 that a nuclear deal with Iran could emerge in the near future and that he had sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Alikhamenei, urging Tehran to agree to the nuclear deal.
Trump says “something’ll happen soon” when Iran is seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal
President Donald Trump recently said he had sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a letter swearing to Iran to agree to the nuclear deal. (Iran’s Supreme Leader/Wana (West Asia News Agency)/Reuters/Elizabeth Franz/ Handouts via file photo)
Otherwise, it could mean military intervention, he said.
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” Trump told Fox Business in a March 9 interview.
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“But now is happening, the time is coming,” he said. “Something will happen in some way. I want Iran, and I wrote a letter saying that if we have to go militarily, it will be terrible for them, so I want you to negotiate.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering the White House.
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