President Donald Trump’s Tuesday phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to signal both a potential end to the Ukraine War and possible Russian cooperation as the U.S. moves its diplomatic attention toward Iran and its proxies in the Middle East.

Trump and Putin spoke on the phone for about two hours on Tuesday and discussed a range of topics, including the implementation and an “energy and infrastructure” ceasefire, and a “maritime ceasefire.” While neither signify a definitive end to the conflict, as the Russians have pummeled the Ukrainian infrastructure and energy grid, statements suggesting a desire for normalized relations and agreement on the Iran-Israel tensions seem to augur a pivot in the administration's priorities.

“This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts,” read a readout of the call from the White House. “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”

“The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts,” it continued. “They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.”

The statements come as the Trump administration has launched airstrikes against Ansarallah (Houthis), a terrorist group based in Yemen that has disrupted shipping through the Red Sea in support of Hamas. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Monday terminated a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that began in January. 

The Gaza Health Ministry claimed as many as 400 dead thus far, though that number has not been independently verified. Collectively, the developments seem to signal that Washington hopes to settle things in Eastern Europe so it can better focus on the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The limited ceasefire in Ukraine

Putin is far from agreeing to a total cessation of the conflict, and the initial ceasefire categories are unlikely to be of military consequence. While the energy and infrastructure ceasefire will likely quell international concerns about the targeting of nuclear plants, the Russians have already leveled much of Ukraine’s non-nuclear power generation. Should a ceasefire in the Black Sea happen, it would do little other than to shield the Russian Black Sea Fleet — which has seen minimal action — from Ukrainian potshots.

The move comes in the wake of a disastrous Ukrainian expedition in Russia’s Kursk Oblast that began last year. During the brief halt in American intelligence sharing with Ukraine, Russian special forces conducted a daring mission through a drained pipeline to attack the Ukrainian rear in a gambit that ultimately forced the evacuation of Ukrainian troops from Russian soil. Russian troops have since pursued troops into the neighboring Sumy Oblast of Ukraine, and that front will evidently remain unaffected by the limited ceasefire. Moscow has also posted gains along the Zaporizhzhia and Donbas fronts. The ground and air conflict is expected to continue amid negotiations.

Russia as a moderating force

The White House readout on the Trump-Putin call mentioned not only an understanding that Iran shouldn’t be able to destroy Israel, but stated that the pair “spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts." That statement followed reports that Russia had proposed acting as a mediator between Washington and Tehran on nuclear talks.

As a loose Iranian ally and active party in the ongoing Syrian conflict, the Russians maintain a degree of clout in the region that could prove beneficial to the United States should both nations conclude an agreement that restores relations and puts Russia in a position to assist more actively in the Middle East.

Speaking to Just the News’s Amanda Head, former National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz opined on the prospect of Russian intervention to temper Iranian hostility, saying “I think Trump should ask for that.” He did, however, express caution about the prospect of success, saying “I don't know that Russia is going to be that effective in convincing the Iranians to stop supporting Hamas, but we may be able to [convince] the Iranians through other ways.”

Fleitz personally took a more hawkish approach to the issue, pointing to American support for Israel against Hamas and recent American strikes on Ansarallah in Yemen as demonstrative of a Trump-favored “peace through strength approach.”

“The attack on the Houthis was a powerful way [of sending a message],” Fleitz said. As were “the very open statements [that] the Trump administration officials are saying that these Houthi missile and drone attacks are Iranian attacks, because all these weapons came from Iran, and we know that they are a client state of Iran, a proxy state, and Iran is responsible.”

“And given how weak [Iran’s] defense is – we learned that last year with Israeli airstrikes – they are very vulnerable to devastating airstrikes by Israel and the United States,” he added.

End of the Israel ceasefire

Israel's air strikes on the Gaza Strip this week ended a ceasefire agreement that Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff helped negotiate ahead of the president’s return to office in late January. The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas forces stormed Israeli border towns, seized roughly 250 hostages, and murdered as many as 1,200 civilians. The Israel Defense Forces subsequently invaded the Gaza Strip in a bid to oust Hamas from power, but were bogged down in grueling urban warfare.

The reignition of the conflict comes as the Americans put pressure on Hamas’s allies in other areas as part of a broader conflict.

Escalations in Yemen

Prior to Trump’s call with Putin, he ordered a strike on Ansarallah in northern Yemen. The Houthi terrorist group is one of three primary combatants in the ongoing Yemeni Civil War and maintains a block of territory along the Red Sea coast near the Bab el Mandeb. That area is a key access point between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, a vital shipping lane leading to the Suez Canal. 

The Houthis have targeted commercial and military vessels alike in their bid to support Hamas. The Biden administration delisted them as a terrorist organization, though Trump speedily reversed that move earlier this year. Amid the attacks, Trump made clear that he regarded Ansarallah as an Iranian proxy and appeared to forecast the prospect of military action in that country.

Directed by Iran

“Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN,” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning. “Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.”

“Iran has played ‘the innocent victim’ of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control. They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, ‘Intelligence,’” he insisted. “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”

Fleitz linked the attacks on the Houthis to American strategy with respect to Moscow, Beijing and Tehran, saying “I think Trump is either acting or taking or supporting actions like this [to] demonstrate American strength. Peace through strength.”

“We know our adversaries respect strength. We know despots in China and Iran, Russia respect strength,” he added. “They respect strong American presidents and strikes on the Houthis, with our support against Hamas, it is sending a message to our enemies worldwide," Fleitz said.