By Ivor Bennett, Russia correspondent
Donald Trump was undoubtedly centre-stage in this latest episode of his ceasefire series.
The American president unashamedly casts himself in the starring role of peacemaker.
But how influential were others behind the scenes?
What part did Vladimir Putin play?
Ever since the Israel-Iran war broke out, the Kremlin leader has been working the phones, in a frantic attempt to find a diplomatic solution.
He’s held conversations with all the main protagonists – Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
He’s also spoken to the leaders of China, Iraq and the UAE, before meeting face-to-face with Iran’s foreign minister in Moscow on Monday.
The primary reason was to preserve Russia’s regional interests.
Tehran is a vital ally for Moscow, made all the more significant by the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria.
Another regime change would be a plot twist with potentially disastrous geopolitical consequences for the Kremlin, which told Sky News last week it was “unimaginable”.
But I think there is another reason why Vladimir Putin may have wanted to lend Donald Trump a hand in cooling the crisis, and it involves another arena altogether – Ukraine.
If Moscow has played a part in this – potentially persuading Iran to limit their response to the US strikes to a one-off symbolic hit – then it will have done the White House a big favour, which could translate into leverage it could use regarding its own conflict.
‘Instead of backing Iran militarily, Russia got it to back off’ would be the pitch.
In which case, Putin could expect Trump to do the same in Ukraine – either pull US military support or apply pressure for a favourable peace deal for Moscow.
I think it’s the same reason why Moscow has repeatedly offered its services as a middleman on the US-Iran nuclear talks.
Facilitate a deal for a transactional president, and you can hope for a return.
At this stage, we simply don’t know the extent of Russia’s role here. But Vladimir Putin has certainly been active.
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