Trump skips Turkey visit, reaches potential Iran nuclear deal
President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East tour Friday, forgoing potential peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Turkey and reaching a potential nuclear deal with Iran.
President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East tour Friday, forgoing potential peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Turkey and reaching a potential nuclear deal with Iran.
President Donald Trump wraps up his Middle East tour Friday, forgoing potential peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Turkey and reaching a potential nuclear deal with Iran.
President Donald Trump wrapped up his four-day Middle East tour, leaving the United Arab Emirates for the U.S. after participating in meetings with international business leaders early Friday morning.
The president is forgoing a trip to Turkey, where direct peace talks are taking place between Ukraine and Russia over the ongoing war.
The talks between both sides are the first in more than three years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin originally proposed the talks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr to meet with him personally.
Trump also expressed willingness to attend if Putin came, but only Zelenskyy ultimately showed up in Turkey.
"Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together," Trump said aboard Air Force One on Thursday. After a Friday morning event in the United Arab Emirates, Trump weighed in again. "We got to stop the killing. It's a war that is going nowhere. It's a shame. It should have never happened, but we have other things to do also."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also in Turkey for the talks, said that Trump is "impatient to end this war."
"This war will eventually end with the negotiated settlement," Rubio said. "It will not end with a military solution."
Putin sent a low-level Russian delegation to the talks. with the Ukrainians and Russians, according to Rubio.
While leaving the UAE Friday, Trump said Iran had an American proposal for a new nuclear agreement.
A day prior, he announced that the U.S. and Iran had "sort of" agreed to the terms of a deal, though he did not rule out military action if an agreement is not reached.
"We're going to take care of it one way or the other we're taking care of it. It'll be taken care of 100%," he said. "It'll be done nicely or not nicely. And the not nicely isn't a good thing for them."
During his first term, Trump removed the U.S. from an that limited Iran's nuclear capabilities, aiming to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. He claimed Iran was not complying with the deal, although there is disagreement over that.
The Trump administration restarted direct talks with Iran more than a month ago. Iran has stated its intention to generate nuclear power and allow international inspectors, which aligns with the original deal.
Iran is currently weakened after its allies suffered losses in wars with Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, and after Syria's dictatorship folded.
During his trip to the Middle East, Trump announced that the U.S. would drop sanctions on Syria as the country rebuilds after civil war.