Trump Speaks with Putin: ‘Very Good Call,’ Russia Wants to Help End Middle East Conflict
President Trump held a roughly one-hour phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin today and described it as very positive and direct. Speaking to reporters at Trump National Doral on March 9, 2026, the President gave the following account of the discussion:
“…and we had a very good call, I had a very good call with President Putin. We talked about Ukraine, we talked about a lot of other things, but we talked about Ukraine and he wants to get that one over with, too. He wants to end that one. But I said, ‘You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine-Russia war over with. That will be more helpful.’
But I think it was a positive call on that subject. And we obviously talked then about the Middle East and he wants to be helpful. He said he wants to be helpful. He wants to help us. He wants to help Israel. He wants to help in the Middle East situation.
So we’ll see what happens. But it was a very good conversation, very frank, very direct, and we’ll see where it goes. Thank you.”
The call comes as the United States and Israel continue operations against Iranian targets, with energy markets on edge and global powers watching closely. President Trump emphasized that Putin expressed a clear desire to assist in resolving the Middle East situation and signaled willingness to support American and Israeli objectives. On Ukraine, Trump pressed Putin to bring the conflict to an end, noting that doing so would be the most helpful step Russia could take.
This direct diplomatic engagement marks a sharp contrast to the stalled, multilateral approaches of previous administrations and underscores President Trump’s preference for straightforward, leader-to-leader talks to advance American interests.