Trump says that he's asked 'about 7' countries to join coalition to police Iran's Strait of Hormuz

CAIRO (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments as oil prices soar during the Iran war.

The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the world’s traded oil normally flows.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump said about the strait, claiming the shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. Trump spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

Trump said China gets about 90% of its oil from the strait, while the U.S. gets a minimal amount. He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition.

“It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we’ll help. We’ll work with them,” Trump said. Previously, he has appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS that Tehran has been “approached by a number of countries” seeking safe passage for their vessels, “and this is up to our military to decide.” He said a group of vessels from “different countries” had been allowed to pass, without providing details.

Iran has said the strait is open to all except the United States and its allies.

Araghchi added that “we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about finding a way to end the war, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks on Iran's nuclear program. He also said Tehran had “no plan to recover” the enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC earlier Sunday that he has been “in dialogue” with some of the countries Trump had mentioned previously, and said he expected China “will be a constructive partner” in reopening the strait.

But countries made no promises.

Britain said Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday discussed with Trump the importance of reopening the strait "to end the disruption to global shipping,” and spoke with Canada’s prime minister about it separately.

Aboard Air Force One, Trump specifically named Starmer, who he said initially declined to put British aircraft carriers “into harm’s way.”

“Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember,” Trump said.

A spokesperson for China’s embassy to the U.S., Liu Pengyu, said previously that “all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply” and that China would “strengthen communication with relevant parties” for de-escalation.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it “takes note” of Trump’s call and that it “will closely coordinate and carefully review” the situation with the U.S.

Expectations are high that Trump will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House.

France previously said it is working with countries — President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has subsided.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, which was not mentioned in Trump's call, told ARD television: “Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.”

Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks “will soon start flowing to global markets,” the International Energy Agency said Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices “by far the largest ever.”

It updated last week’s announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks “immediately,” and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released “from the end of March.”

Trump didn’t directly answer whether his administration is talking about selling oil futures as a way to cap surging oil prices.

“The prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as it’s over. And it’s going to be over pretty quickly,” he told reporters.

Gulf Arab states including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain reported new missile or drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates — the first time it has threatened a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.

Dubai temporarily suspended flights at its international airport — the world's busiest — after a drone hit a fuel tank and caused a fire. Civil defense crews contained the blaze and no injuries were reported, authorities said.

Tehran has claimed that Friday's U.S. strikes on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s primary oil terminal, were launched from the UAE, without providing evidence. It has threatened to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” if its oil infrastructure is hit.

U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields.

Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.

In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Iran’s Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.

Iran’s government on Sunday showed journalists buildings damaged by strikes in Tehran on Friday. A police station was hit and surrounding buildings were damaged. Some apartments’ outer walls had been stripped away.

“God had mercy on all of us,” said Elham Movagghari, a resident. Other Iranians are leaving the country.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.

At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, since Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people — nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon — have been displaced.

Israel’s military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel.

Earlier, several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area, where they caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire. Magen David Adom, Israel’s rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building.

This version corrects to say Araghchi was speaking to CBS, not NBC as previously reported.

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Weissert from aboard Air Force One, Frankel from Jerusalem and Anna from Lowville, New York. Contributing were Associated Press journalists Darlene Superville, Fatima Hussein and Tia Goldenberg in Washington; Sally Abou AlJoud and Fadi Tawil in Beirut; John Leicester in Paris; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

People walk past tents sheltering people displaced by Israeli airstrikes at a public space along the Beirut waterfront at sunset in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People gather outside an apartment building damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People shout slogans during an anti U.S. and Israeli rally outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, March 15, 2026. The sign reads in Turkish: "Leave NATO, close the bases." (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Heavy rain falls over tents sheltering people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf towards Strait of Hormuz in United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Firefighters extinguish fire at a site damaged during an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Home Front Command officer works at an apartment damaged after an Iranian strike in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Smoke rises from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man photographs the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)

Mourners react during the funeral ceremony for Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his close ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and said their countries are partners in trade and international affairs as they opened bilateral talks Wednesday on his trip to Beijing.

Xi welcomed Putin with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People only days after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The quick succession of Trump’s and Putin’s visits highlighted Beijing’s growing role as an international superpower, experts say.

Putin greeted Xi warmly as they met for bilateral talks at the Great Hall of the People.

“My dear friend,” Putin said. “We are truly delighted to see you. We keep in constant touch, both personally and through our aides in the government.”

Xi also stressed the “political mutual trust and strategic cooperation” between the countries, according to Chinese state media. The two leaders have praised each other profusely in the past, with Xi at one point describing Putin as his “best and most intimate friend.”

Xi and Putin were set to focus on energy and security as well as their overall ties. The two sides agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001, Chinese state media reported.

China became Russia’s top trading partner after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.

China is the top customer for Russian oil and gas supplies, and Moscow expects the war in Iran to increase the demand.

In his meeting with Xi, Putin stressed their countries’ economic ties.

“The driving force behind economic cooperation is Russian-Chinese collaboration in the energy sector,” Putin said. “Amid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources.”

Xi stressed the need of “complete cessation of hostilities” in the Middle East, according to Chinese state media.

“An early end to the conflict will help reduce disruptions to energy supply stability, the smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, and international trade order,” Xi said.

A Russian presidential aide said earlier Russia’s oil exports to China grew by 35% in the first quarter of 2026 and that Russia is one of the biggest exporters of natural gas to China.

Putin also stressed China and Russia’s cooperation in foreign policy as “one of the key stabilizing factors on the international stage.”

“In the current tense situation on the international stage, our close cooperation is particularly in demand,” he said.

In February 2022, just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia announced a “no limits” partnership during a trip by Putin to Beijing.

Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills. China has also ignored demands from the West to stop providing high-tech components for Russia’s weapons industries.

The two leaders are scheduled to sign cooperation agreements during Putin’s two-day visit.

But regardless of specific deals, the primary purpose of the visit is to reaffirm the countries’ ties as well as project Beijing’s image as an influential superpower, experts say.

“The optics matter,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

“The message is clearly one that China maintains friendship and strategic partnership with whichever power it likes, and the USA is just one of them.”

Putin and Xi both need to use their close ties in order to prop up their images at home, said Willy Lam, a senior China fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

Putin “needs to tell his countrymen and the world that Russia has China’s support in terms of buying its oil and gas and other tangible and intangible financial support,” Lam said.

Meanwhile, for Xi, having both Trump and Putin visit in such close succession is a major source of credit with the country’s top Communist leadership.

Putin noted earlier this month that Moscow and Beijing have reached “a very substantial step forward in our cooperation in the oil and gas sector.”

“Practically all the key issues have been agreed upon,” he said. “If we succeed in finalizing these details and bringing them to a conclusion during this visit, I will be extremely pleased.”

Putin also praised their bilateral relationship as a crucial, balancing force in international relations.

“Interaction between such nations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a factor of deterrence and stability,” he said.

Moscow welcomes China’s dialogue with the U.S. as another stabilizing element for the global economy, Putin added.

“We stand only to benefit from this, from the stability and constructive engagement between the U.S. and China,” he said.

Mistreanu reported from Bangkok.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang shake hands during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Kristina Solovyova, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Children holding Russian and Chinese flags walk ahead of a welcoming ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)