US President Donald Trump praised and expressed thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping today for their diplomatic contributions to the newly announced US-Iran peace agreement, a breakthrough announcement of a 14-point memorandum of understanding to resolve the conflict with Iran.
Trump highlighted that both Putin and Xi played crucial behind-the-scenes roles as power brokers, using their leverage and diplomatic stances during the war to help facilitate the negotiations.
Russia had consistently offered to mediate and pushed for de-escalation throughout the conflict. Xi had similarly been engaging in high-level diplomacy with Iran's foreign ministry and previously assured Trump that China would not supply weapons to Iran.
The agreement is scheduled to be formally signed in Geneva on June 19. It includes Reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade chokepoint permanently free of tolls or naval blockades; The easing of US economic sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian financial assets; and a reaffirmation from Iran not to develop nuclear weapons, tied to a 60-day negotiation window.
Israeli security officials who have been briefed on the text point out that the temporary agreement relies heavily on Iranian goodwill. It defers the complex issue of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile to a negotiation window, provides Tehran with rapid sanctions relief, and completely fails to mandate the disarmament of Hezbollah or effectively curb Iran's ballistic missile program.
With the formal signing ceremony scheduled for this week, Israeli leadership is widely expected to spend the coming days using a "menu of options" to either politically undermine the deal or demand heavy security and territorial compensations from the Trump administration on other fronts.
Netanyahu is moving forward under the policy that Israel will act entirely alone if Iran attempts to renew its nuclear ambitions. He has stated that Israel was "not a party" to the memorandum of understanding and publicly downplayed the development, framing it as a manageable "mini-deal".
The were no direct discussions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and either Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping in the recent weeks of May and June 2026.While Netanyahu has previously used Putin as an intermediary to relay messages to Tehran, recent diplomatic dynamics regarding Iran have shifted away from direct communication with Israel to independent parallel negotiations.
Netanyahu explicitly stated, "As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel – Iran will not have nuclear weapons." He intends to use the upcoming 60-day technical negotiation window to fiercely object to major concessions.
