Comments by the Assistant to the President of Russia, Yury Ushakov, following the telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump have been published on the Kremlin website:

March 9, 2026, 22:30

Y. Ushakov: This evening a telephone conversation took place between the presidents of Russia and the United States.

Donald Trump called Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to discuss a number of extremely important topics related to the current development of the international situation. Naturally, the emphasis was placed on the situation surrounding the conflict with Iran and on the trilateral negotiations on a Ukrainian settlement being conducted with the participation of U.S. representatives.

Let me say at once that the conversation was businesslike, frank, and constructive in nature, as is usually the case in dialogue between the Russian and American leaders. They had not spoken by phone for quite some time—the last conversation was at the end of December 2025. Today’s call, incidentally, lasted about an hour. The U.S. president noted that, as previously agreed, such communication should of course take place on a regular basis, and both leaders said they were ready for this.

The Russian president expressed a number of thoughts on achieving the fastest possible political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian conflict, including those that take into account contacts held with the leaders of the Persian Gulf countries, with the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, and with the leaders of a number of other countries.

For his part, the U.S. president gave his assessment of the development of the situation in the context of the ongoing American–Israeli operation. I would note that there was a very substantive and, I believe, useful exchange of views on this matter.

President Trump again expressed interest in bringing the conflict in Ukraine to an end as soon as possible by reaching a ceasefire and moving toward a long-term settlement.

From our side, a positive assessment was given to the mediation efforts being undertaken by Donald Trump’s team and by him personally.

A description was also given of what is currently happening along the line of combat contact, where Russian troops are advancing quite successfully. As was noted, this is a factor that should finally prompt the regime in Kiev to move toward a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

The presidents also touched upon the issue of Venezuela, primarily in the context of the situation on the global oil market.

Overall, I will repeat that the conversation was very substantive and will undoubtedly have practical significance for the further work of the two countries in various areas of international policy.

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