U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t want Russian leader Vladimir Putin to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict before he ends the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly offered to negotiate an end to the escalating missile attacks Israel and Iran are carrying out. But although Trump previously said he would be “open” to Putin serving as a mediator, he changed his tune Wednesday.
“He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, okay?’” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I said, ‘Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.’”
Russia is a close ally of Iran: Tehran supplied Moscow with military drones to strike Ukraine and, in return, has received help with its civilian nuclear program. The Kremlin has also maintained warm relations with Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frequently visited Moscow before 2022, which could put Putin in position to play power broker in the region.
However, European leaders have pointed out the hypocrisy in Putin’s peace quest in the Middle East, where he recently lost one key regional ally when rebels toppled Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December.
“I do not believe that Russia, which is now engaged in a high-intensity conflict and has decided not to respect the U.N. Charter for several years now, can be a mediator,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday.
Trump is seriously considering joining the Israeli assault on Iran, while Netanyahu pledged to step up attacks on Iran in response to a missile strike on an Israeli hospital Thursday morning.
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