Putin offers help to end Iran war while Russia continues its own in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin pledged to do "everything in our power" to help end the war between Iran and the US on Thursday, positioning Russia as a would-be Middle East mediator while continuing his own full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year.

The Russian president made the remarks at a bilateral meeting with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Avazeh, on Turkmenistan's Caspian coast, praising Tehran for making what he called "genuine efforts" to resolve the war.

Pezeshkian said Iran and the US had exchanged proposals to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and that Tehran was reviewing and amending them before consolidating them through mediators. Despite ongoing US attacks, he said Iran would not leave the negotiating table.

"We are talking, but every time we negotiate with the United States, they attack again," Pezeshkian said. "Nevertheless, we will not abandon the negotiating table and dialogue."

He said the revisions, once finalised, would be put to mediators. "We are supposed to sit down through the existing mediators and consolidate them," he said.

It was the seventh meeting between the two presidents since Pezeshkian took office, following a phone call on 7 October — Putin's birthday — in which the pair discussed regional developments and the Iran-US negotiations.

The two previously met in person on 1 September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit in Bishkek.

Russia is not a mediator in the US-Iran negotiations. So far, Qatar and Pakistan have led the talks.

Ties further deepen

Military, diplomatic and economic relations between Iran and Russia have strengthened since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

The Iran war, which began with joint US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, has sparked more frequent consultations between Moscow and Tehran on political and material support and financial co-operation.

Since 2022, Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed drone technology — which Moscow has since copied to create its own Geran-type variant, a key tool in its daily attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets — and short-range missiles.

Moscow also faces accusations of providing Tehran with targeting information for attacks on US interests in the Middle East.

Trade between the two countries rose by more than 21% in 2025 and continued on the same trajectory through the first seven months of 2026, Putin said, adding that relations were developing under a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement signed early last year.

Pezeshkian described the current situation as an opportunity to deepen co-operation and said Tehran and Moscow should coordinate "with greater speed and strength."

Billion-dollar loan delayed

Iranian state-run media reported in the days before the meeting that Russia was ready to extend a $1 billion loan to Tehran, described as the first tranche of a $20 billion package agreed at a meeting between Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani and Putin.

The semi-official IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said arrangements to disburse the sum were complete, but disagreements among Iranian authorities over how to spend the money prevented Tehran from providing the account number needed to complete the transfer.

Iran's Planning and Budget Organisation wants to use the funds to import cars and collect customs duties, the Oil Ministry wants them for oil equipment, and the Agriculture Ministry is seeking to allocate them to basic commodity imports, according to the same report.

The bilateral meeting took place on the eve of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) leaders' summit — a gathering of nine former Soviet republic heads focused on regional co-operation — and a separate Caspian Sea environmental conference, also held in Turkmenistan, bringing together the leaders of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.