Despite evidence that the conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russia's Vladimir Putin could help.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on June 15 that he is considering his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as a potential mediator between Israel and Iran. "Yeah, I would be open to it," Trump said, as cited by ABC reporter Rachel Scott on X.

Former Vice President Mike Pence talks with Dana Bash about the recent escalating attacks between Israel and Iran.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump for 50 minutes on Saturday, focusing on hostilities between Israel and Iran and calling for efforts to bring them to an end.

Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles toward Israel on Friday night in retaliation for Israel's surprise attack early Friday.

Russia said Sunday it had evacuated several of its citizens from Iran and halted activity at its Tehran consulate after Israeli attacks on the country sparked retaliatory missile fire towards Israel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday after Israel pelted Iran with a series of strikes.

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.

President Donald Trump on Sunday revealed negotiations are underway and a peace agreement between Israel and Iran could be coming “soon” in the conflict between the two countries. “We will have PEACE,