Iran blames US for regional wars Pezeshkian, Putin discuss bilateral ties

MOSCOW:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the Middle East can solve its problems without the involvement of the United States. “I believe we are capable of resolving our problems in the region without relying on the United States,” Pezeshkian said at a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow. The two leaders discussed regional tensions and bilateral ties during a meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the 8th Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit in Moscow. “Our trade is expanding and growing day by day. US actions in the region make it easier for us to move towards greater multilateralism and strengthen our cooperation with you and other countries subject to unilateral US sanctions,” he told Putin. Putin said he discussed the war with Pezeshkian, expressing hope that the situation would improve. “We spoke earlier, oneon-one, about the situation in the region -- a situation that, undoubtedly, cannot help but cause concern,” he said, adding that he hoped it would “evolve in a positive direction”. Pezeshkian said he was confident the will existed on both sides to expand cooperation in science, industry, culture, security and military affairs. During opening remarks at their meeting, Putin described the summit as “quite successful” and said bilateral meetings between participating leaders were “also very useful.” About the situation in the region, Putin said: “As you know – and we have just been discussing the situation in the region one-onone – it is certainly a cause for concern, not only for us, but especially for us, given that we work closely with Iran. “We are neighbors, we share many common interests, and we are striving to pursue them all. We hope that the situation will develop in a positive direction.” The Russian president said Moscow was fulfilling its obligations under all joint projects with Tehran. Meanwhile, the leaders of Finland and Norway phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to urge him to end the war in Ukraine, breaking with a longstanding practice among Western European leaders of shunning direct contact with the Kremlin. The call by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was an attempt to influence the diplomatic process after US President Donald Trump shifted his position in favour of Russia and US ties with Ukraine hit their lowest point in 18 months. Stoere said he and Stubb had spoken to Putin for about 90 minutes, and then to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In a joint statement, they linked the initiative to planned peace discussions between Russian, Ukrainian and US officials in Abu Dhabi next month, their first since February.