Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call this Saturday with his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, the Kremlin announced, as Tehran emerges as a key Moscow ally in its intervention in Ukraine.
The two leaders discussed “a range of issues” related to bilateral relations between Iran and Russia, “with an emphasis on deepening cooperation in political, economic and commercial areas,” the Russian presidency said in a statement.
The Kremlin indicated that Putin and Raisi also spoke “of transport and logistics”, at a time when the economies of both countries are the target of heavy sanctions imposed by Western countries.
With China and India, countries usually Russia’s allies, expressing concern over the conflict, Moscow and Tehran have grown closer.
Kiev and Western allies, mainly the US, accuse Russia of using Iranian-made drones to attack Ukraine.
Articles have appeared in the press about possible deliveries of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles to Moscow, which Tehran denies.
Earlier this month, however, Iran acknowledged supplying drones to Russia, but assured the deliveries were in Ukraine before the offensive.
This week, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev traveled to Tehran for talks on security cooperation between the two countries.
Source: DN
