One-Hour Conversation Between Trump and Putin on Syria, Iran, and North Korea

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the Syrian crisis as well as issues related to Iran, North Korea, and Ukraine during a one-hour phone call on November 21. This conversation followed reports of the Russian President's meeting with Bashar al-Assad. The Kremlin announced on the morning of November 21 that Assad had traveled to Russia and met with Putin on Monday. According to the Kremlin, both sides emphasized that it is time for war to give way to negotiations and finding a political solution. On the same day, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces stated that Russia's 'active military operations' in Syria are 'coming to an end.' The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also announced the 'end of the dominance' of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Iran and Russia are among the main supporters of Bashar al-Assad, and in addition to the presence of Iranian-backed militias, Russia has directly intervened militarily in Syria since 2015. On Tuesday, after the announcement of the Assad-Putin meeting, the Kremlin stated that the Russian President would have a phone conversation with Trump. A few hours later, the White House released a statement regarding this. According to Associated Press and Reuters, citing White House officials, the two sides discussed not only the Syrian crisis but also Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, told reporters that he had a 'great phone conversation' with Putin, emphasizing the relatively long duration of the call, stating that he and the Russian President discussed 'very strongly about creating peace in Syria' and 'very strongly about North Korea.' The official White House statement did not mention the topic of Iran, but in a statement released by the Kremlin, it was noted that Putin emphasized his government's commitment to the nuclear agreement reached in July 2015 between Tehran and six world powers. In his latest quarterly report on the nuclear agreement, Donald Trump refrained from confirming Iran's compliance with it, leaving its fate at least in the near future to the United States Congress. In the Kremlin's statement regarding the phone call between the two leaders, Putin's remarks during his meeting with Assad were reiterated, stating that from Moscow's perspective, 'there is still a long way to go for a complete victory against terrorism. However, regarding joint cooperation against terrorism in Syria, military operations are indeed coming to an end.' According to the White House, the two presidents discussed the necessity of joint action against terrorism in the Middle East and Central Asia and agreed to find ways to enhance cooperation in the fight against ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups. The White House stated that Trump and Putin emphasized support for UN negotiations in Geneva, ending the humanitarian crisis in Syria, the return of war refugees, and maintaining stability and unity in Syria without interference and without it becoming a haven for terrorists. In addition to Trump, Putin has also spoken with the Saudi king, the Israeli Prime Minister, and the Egyptian President. According to the Israeli Prime Minister's office, a significant portion of the half-hour conversation between Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu was related to Iran's actions to expand its influence in Syria and Israel's opposition to this issue. The day before, the French President also had phone conversations with Hassan Rouhani and Benjamin Netanyahu. The presidents of Russia, Iran, and Turkey are meeting today in Sochi, Russia. In this context, over 40 members of the US Congress expressed concern about Iran's military presence in Syria ahead of the Sochi meeting; the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey met in Antalya; the Chief of Staff of Iran's armed forces traveled to Sochi, Russia; and the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad met in Russia.