WASHINGTON (Anadolu)

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his country may launch a powerful new strike against Iran tonight, hours after strikes targeted sites inside Iran in response to what Washington said were attacks carried out by Tehran against ships in the Strait of Hormuz area.

This came during a meeting between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Trump said: 'We hit them very hard last night, very hard. And most likely we will hit them hard again tonight. I will give them a simple warning. We will hit them hard tonight.'

He reiterated his assertion that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump said he believes the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran to end the conflict 'is over.'

In response to a question about whether the memorandum of understanding had ended, he said: 'That's an interesting question for me. I think it's over.'

— 'We will seize Kharg'

The US president renewed his threat to occupy the strategic Iranian island of Kharg.

He noted that the United States launched an attack Tuesday evening targeting the Iranian island of Kharg.

He added: 'We destroyed part of it. I said: Don't touch the oil, because maybe we will take control of Kharg Island. And we may take control of Kharg Island.'

On June 11, Trump threatened in a post on his platform 'Truth Social' to seize 'Kharg Island and other oil infrastructure points' in the 'not-too-distant future.'

He said his country would take 'full control of Iranian oil and gas markets.'

Trump renewed his warning to Iran that it could face a 'major attack.'

He indicated that the United States destroyed about 28 Iranian boats last night.

In response to a question about whether the United States intends to carry out more strikes Wednesday evening, he said: 'Usually I don't tell you that, but in this case there is nothing they can do about it, so the answer is: most likely.'

He also announced that he has reimposed the naval blockade on Iran.

On April 13, the United States imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and coasts following the escalation of military confrontation with Tehran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to prevent the movement of ships heading to or leaving Iranian ports.

The blockade continued until mid-June, before Washington announced its lifting as part of de-escalation understandings, but President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that it was reimposed after the collapse of the memorandum of understanding with Iran and the resumption of military confrontation.

— Settlement for the Ukraine war

Regarding Ukraine and its war with Russia, Trump said he feels a 'great honor' to meet President Zelenskyy.

He added that Zelenskyy 'wants to reach a settlement, and I believe Russian President Vladimir Putin also wants to reach a settlement.'

He said: 'He (Putin) wants to end it (the war) soon. I asked him and we talked. I talked to him a lot, maybe a little less recently, but the relationship is very good. I talked to President Putin a lot, and he wants to end the war.'

Trump indicated that the United States will grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles.

He expressed his country's readiness to close the skies over Ukraine if necessary.

Since February 24, 2022, Russia has been conducting a military attack on its neighbor Ukraine, and it conditions its end on Kyiv abandoning joining Western military entities, which the latter considers 'unacceptable interference' in its internal affairs.

Trump praised the NATO summit, hosted by Turkey on Tuesday and Wednesday, saying: 'We just finished the NATO meeting, and it was a great meeting.'

Trump described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as 'strong, good, and has done good work.'

He added: 'Everything went great, and in fact we had a very productive meeting.'

Turkey hosted the NATO summit on Tuesday and Wednesday for the second time in its history after hosting the Istanbul summit in 2004, and the summit gains special importance in light of the challenges facing the alliance and the global security system.