AP — Washington, Updated Apr 30, 2026
President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a Wednesday phone call, renewed an offer for Russia to act as a third country to take custody of Iran’s roughly 970 pounds of enriched uranium that the United States is seeking to have surrendered.
“He told me he’d like to be involved with the enrichment — if he can help us get it,” Trump said, quoting Putin. Trump added that he responded by urging Putin to focus on ending the war in Ukraine: “I said, I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine. To me, that would be more important.”
The Kremlin cautioned of “dire consequences” if hostilities against Iran were to resume. Presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Putin conveyed to the U.S. president that a ground operation on Iranian territory would be completely “unacceptable and dangerous.”
