Putin Offers to ‘Mediate’ Israel-Iran War But Warns U.S. Against Involvement

Russia has “stable, trusting ties” with Israel and a partnership with Iran that places it in an appropriate position to negotiate for peace between the two parties, the Kremlin claimed this week as it warned the United States against “interfering”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally offered to mediate between Israel and Iran, suggesting an outcome where Iran can still maintain a civil nuclear power programme, but where it promises not to develop nuclear weapons. Putin said: “This is a delicate issue, and of course, we need to be very careful here, but in my opinion, a solution can be found… I believe it would be good for all of us together to look for ways to stop the fighting and seek ways for the participants in the conflict to find an agreement”.

Such approaches have been tried before and failed: President Trump withdrew the U.S. from just such a treaty in his first term after Iran broke the terms of the agreement and used the cash it received out of the deal for nefarious purposes.

Indeed while Russia was once part of a group of nations cooperating to control Iran’s nuclear ambitions the Ukraine war has turned Iran into a close ally. Tehran is believed to have been a major supplier of advanced attack drones and missiles, quite possibly eclipsing whatever interest Moscow may have once had in preventing the emergence of a new nuclear-armed power.

Russia built Iran’s first nuclear power plant, Bushehr, and hundreds of Russian atomic scientists and engineers work there. President Putin said he’d already arranged with the Israeli government that those Russian citizens wouldn’t be harmed in the conflict. Iran is also a member of the Beijing-Moscow-led BRICS organisation created by Moscow as a counterweight to the G7.

Russia’s less-than-neutral interest in Iran aside, it has asserted its readiness to mediate talks several times in recent days. Kremlin spokesman Yury Ushakov stated on Thursday that in a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin had “confirmed Russia’s readiness to conduct possible mediation efforts [between Israel and Iran] if necessary”.

Putin’s personal spokesman Dmitry Peskov went further, boasting of Russia’s good relations with both sides in the fight. He said: “President Putin definitely has a great potential for some kind of mediation. We retain partner ties with Iran as well as very equable, stable, trusting relations with Israel”. Israel has a sizable Russian-speaking community, mainly Jewish émigrés who left the former Soviet Union after the end of the Cold War.

Peskov also praised U.S. President Donald Trump for attempting to promote talks, saying: “President Putin sincerely appreciates Trump’s readiness to help find a solution to this ongoing crisis, as well as the efforts that he and his team are making. Such support is very significant”.

Nevertheless, in line with usual Russian policy, the Kremlin’s general position on the United States and Iran has been more cold. Spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova warned America off getting involved, and to refrain from what Russian state media called “interfering”.

She said: “We would like to especially warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences… The priority today is to halt the escalation of violence, achieve a ceasefire, and restore peace.

“These steps are crucial for creating the necessary conditions to bring the situation back to the negotiating table. We are committed to facilitating this process in every possible way”.

President Trump has already expressed he is not impressed with Russia’s attempts to insert itself into the Israel-Iran war, and related he told President Putin in a call that he should focus on solving his own problems first. Speaking of the need to bring peace to the Russia-Ukraine war, the President told reporters: “…it’s so Stupid… I spoke to [Putin] yesterday and I said, you know, he actually offered to help mediate, and I said ‘do me a favour, mediate your own, let’s mediate Russia first’, OK? I say ‘Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later’.”

In an aside, President Trump offered a glimpse at his reasoning for consistently stating the number of people killed in the Russia-Ukraine war is higher than figures released by Kyiv, Moscow, or Western observers including governments and media efforts to catalogue the conflict. He said: “The big thing with that one is far more people are dead than have been reported in the Russia-Ukraine, many, many more people”.