Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had a 50-minute phone call on June 14, discussing the escalating war between Israel and Iran, as energy infrastructure in the region took direct hits from military strikes.
The call was confirmed by the Kremlin and came just after Israel launched a large-scale aerial campaign known as Operation Rising Lion.
According to TASS, Russia’s Yury Ushakov, who serves as Vladimir Putin’s top aide on foreign policy, briefed reporters after the call and said Moscow had warned Washington well before the violence began.
Ushakov said, “The Russian president recalled that our side proposed concrete steps before the current escalation, which were aimed at finding mutually acceptable agreements in the ongoing negotiations between representatives of the United States and Iran on the Iranian nuclear program.”
He added, “Russia’s principled approach and interest in a settlement remains unchanged and, as Vladimir Putin noted, we will continue to act on this basis.”
Meanwhile, Trump said on Truth Social that Putin had actually called to wish him a happy birthday. He said:
“President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well. We talked at length. Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week. He is doing the planned prisoner swaps – large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides. The call lasted approximately 1 hour. He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.”
Israel strikes Iranian nuclear sites with 200 jets
The Israeli military opened the offensive on the night of June 13, deploying 200 fighter jets to target over 100 locations inside Iran, including suspected nuclear research facilities. This marked one of the largest airstrike campaigns in the region since 2006.
Israeli officials did not give a complete list of targets but confirmed that the goal was to damage Iran’s nuclear capabilities directly. Tehran’s response came just hours later.
By that evening, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired missile salvos into Israel, hitting various locations. Among them were military air bases, and one of the missiles reportedly struck the Israeli Defense Ministry building in Tel Aviv.
Israeli officials acknowledged that while some facilities were damaged, the Iron Dome defense system intercepted most of the incoming projectiles.
The growing exchange between the two countries has already hit global energy markets. Kalshi, a prediction platform that tracks financial risk, forecasted that oil prices could climb as high as $94.10 a barrel within the year due to the disruption of Iranian oil infrastructure. Global investors are bracing for possible inflationary effects that could ripple across multiple economies.
Iran threatens US military bases as markets wobble
Fars News, which operates under Iran’s state media network, reported that senior Iranian military officials warned the fight will expand to include US military bases stationed across the Middle East.
Although no timetable was given, the report indicated that Tehran considers American forces legitimate military targets if Washington is seen as backing Israeli strikes.
The S&P 500 index, a key benchmark for US equities, reflected market anxiety. On Friday, it dropped by 1.1% and closed the week down 0.4%. For context, those numbers weren’t enough to cause a full-blown correction, but they did show a rare failure of the market’s usual strategy—buying the morning dip.
The index hovered just above its 20-day average, a trend level often used as a psychological line of defense for traders. A break below that level, followed by another 3% slide, would still fall within the “normal” range of pullbacks in a bull market.
But given the geopolitical climate, those numbers may not stay routine for long. Analysts are watching the market closely, not just for price movements but for changes in behavior.
Over the past few months, the S&P 500 has been riding one of the strongest recoveries after a 15%-plus correction, showing tight pullbacks and aggressive buying on weakness.
That pattern may be harder to maintain if the Middle East war stretches into July or if Iran follows through on threats against American troops.
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