US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in a significant phone call, focusing largely on the escalating tensions in the Middle East. , US News News - Times Now

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin, in separate telephone conversations on Friday, told Iran's president that Moscow condemned Israel's actions against Tehran and told Israel's prime minister that questions around Iran's nuclear programme could only be solved through diplomacy.

Donald Trump reveals that Vladimir Putin called him today to wish him a 'happy birthday' while the two also discussed tensions between Israel and Iran

Trump has generally veered away from overtly criticizing Putin while openly berating Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, but has repeatedly condemned Russia's lethal airstrikes and floated that the Kremlin could be "tapping us along."

Smirnova, the director of the Narva museum that is housed in the fortress, has defiantly hung from the battlements a large banner of Putin’s face, with the words “war criminal” below it. In January this year a court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant for Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova on the charge of spreading false information.

Donald Trump has sent Vladimir Putin a stark message after the two leaders spoke for nearly 50 minutes on the phone on Saturday. The US and Russian Presidents discussed Israel 's strikes on Iran, and the possibility of reviving negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Israel's attack on Iran and the U.S.'s rejection of tougher oil sanctions could boost Russia's revenues from its key export.