\n<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s President Vladimir Putin vowed on Thursday to \u201cdo everything\u201d to help end the Middle East war when he met Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian for talks ahead of a regional summit, Russian media reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n The leaders of two of the world\u2019s most sanctioned nations met after arriving in Turkmenistan for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that starts on Friday in the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are ready to do everything that is in our power to contribute to the settlement of this situation,\u201d said Putin.<\/p>\n He added that Iran had made \u201creal efforts to end the war\u201d since US-Israeli attacks started on February 28, according to Russian news agencies.<\/p>\n Putin also noted the \u201cpositive evolution\u201d in Iran-Russia relations.<\/p>\n The two countries have reinforced diplomatic and military links since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, becoming increasingly reliant on each other.<\/p>\n Kyiv and Western countries have accused Iran of supplying Russia with Shahed drones and short-range missiles to pummel Ukraine.<\/p>\n Russia has been accused of supplying data to Iran for its attacks on US targets in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Putin and Pezeshkian also met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan last month. And in a call on Wednesday, Putin told Pezeshkian that he was ready to help mediate in the Middle East war, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.<\/p>\n The contacts came with Iran-US talks at an apparent impasse. Pezeshkian said this week that negotiations with Washington were \u201cmeaningless\u201d.<\/p>\n Diplomatic efforts to resolve Russia\u2019s offensive in Ukraine also appear deadlocked, even as both sides intensify attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are engaged in dialogue, but every time we negotiate with the United States, they attack again,\u201d Iranian state media quoted Pezeshkian as saying at the talks with Putin.<\/p>\n Trump ruled out attacking Iran again before the US midterm elections on November 3, saying on Thursday that Washington was holding \u201cproductive discussions\u201d with the Islamic republic.<\/p>\n Pezeshkian said Tehran wanted to see a \u201cfinal framework\u201d to end the war.<\/p>\n But he accused the United States of \u201ctrying to impose its policies and views on all countries\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the United States insists on pursuing a unilateral approach, a resolution will not be possible,\u201d he said, according to state media.<\/p>\n Putin and Pezeshkian will attend the summit of the CIS \u2014 originally a grouping of former Soviet nations \u2014 with leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkmenistan and other Central Asia states.<\/p>\n The Putin-Pezeshkian meeting was one of several bilateral encounters scheduled on the sidelines of the summit, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.<\/p>\n The CIS was established in 1991 to ease the pain of the Soviet collapse and maintain ties among its former republics.<\/p>\n Some states have left \u2014 Georgia withdrew following a 2008 war with Russia, Ukraine halted its participation after Moscow\u2019s 2014 annexation of Crimea and Moldova left in 2023 as it sought closer ties with the European Union.<\/p>\n For Russia, which has found itself isolated since launching the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the CIS proves that it \u201cactually has the orbit and that it has its own sphere of influence that is fortified and institutionalised\u201d, Temur Umarov, a researcher at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told AFP.<\/p>\n But Friday\u2019s meeting also comes at a time when several CIS members are seeking to diversify their economic and diplomatic partnerships, notably by strengthening ties with China and Western nations.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if Russia decides to use this platform to propagate anti-Western or anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, that does not mean the other members will automatically subscribe to its position,\u201d Zhanibek Arynov, a Kazakhstan-based researcher specialising in Central Asian geopolitics, told AFP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u2013 Conflict impasse \u2013<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2013 Sphere of influence \u2013<\/strong><\/h2>\n