Pezeshkian and Putin meet in Turkmenistan, discuss cooperation and ending the war

Mixed · 2Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Turkmenistan on Thursday 8 October, on the sidelines of a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) leaders' summit. 1 2 Centre · 1According to Iran's state news agency IRNA, as relayed by Anadolu, the two leaders discussed energy, agriculture, transportation and trade, and stressed the need to speed up the completion of joint projects. 1 Right · 1Russian news agencies, cited by AFP, reported that Putin said Russia was ready to "do everything that is in our power" to help settle the Middle East conflict, and that Iran had made "real efforts to end the war" since US-Israeli attacks began on 28 February. 2

Right · 1Putin also noted a "positive evolution" in Russian-Iranian relations. 2 Centre · 1The summit is in Avaza, on the Caspian coast. A Caspian Sea environmental summit of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan is also being held there, and Putin is on a two-day visit. 1 Centre · 1The two last met on 1 September at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Anadolu says Putin then called the US-Iran ceasefire "unstable and too fragile" and pledged continued support for Tehran. They also spoke by phone on Wednesday about Iran-US negotiations. 1

Right · 1AFP adds that the meeting came as Tehran-Washington talks appear to be at an impasse, with Pezeshkian saying this week that negotiations with Washington were "meaningless". It also notes that Ukraine and Western countries accuse Iran of supplying Russia with Shahed drones and short-range missiles, and that the two countries have grown closer and more reliant on each other since Russia's 2022 offensive in Ukraine. 2