KEY POINTS
- Putin and Xi call for an immediate ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to the Iran-Israel conflict
- Xi urged Israel to halt hostilities to avoid further escalation and regional spillover
- Putin offers Russia’s readiness to mediate between Israel and Iran
- Xi supported Putin’s mediation offer, viewing it as a step towards de-escalation
MOSCOW/BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Iran in a phone call and stressed the need for a diplomatic solution, Moscow and Beijing said.
Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran on Friday that prompted Tehran to respond with its own attacks with missiles and drones.
Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the call.
He added that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means”.
Xi told Putin that a ceasefire was the “top priority” and urged Israel to halt its attacks, Chinese state media reported.
“Promoting a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities is the top priority. Armed force is not the correct way to resolve international disputes,” Xi said, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.
“Parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease hostilities as soon as possible to prevent a cyclical escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war,” the Chinese President added.
Putin on Wednesday confirmed his readiness to mediate between Israel and Iran.
Russia is close to Iran but also strives for good relations with Israel.
In a phone call with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Putin “confirmed Russia’s readiness to provide mediation assistance to promote dialogue between the parties to the conflict,” the Kremlin said in a statement as reported by TASS news agency on Wednesday.
Last week, Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering himself as a peacemaker.
The Kremlin said that Xi had spoken “in favour of such mediation, since he believes that it could serve to de-escalate the current situation”, Ushakov said.
Israel-Iran conflict
Israel launched wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences on Friday, killing top commanders, scientists, and civilians.
It claimed the strikes are part of a broader operation codenamed ‘Rising Lion’ to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which Tehran has consistently denied, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.
Iran responded with its own missile and drone strikes, claiming hitting key military and intelligence targets in Israel.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump left the question of whether the US will join Israeli strikes on Iran up in the air, as he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations.
Addressing reporters about whether the US would enter the fray after his earlier comments, Trump said: “I can tell you this, Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate.”
“I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters as he supervised the installation of a new flagpole on the White House South Lawn.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that direct US military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East.
Ryabkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that Russia warns the US against supplying such assistance to Israel – or even considering it.
Iran ‘will not surrender’
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised message on Wednesday that the country “will stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace”.
Khamenei said: “This nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition,” according to Tasnim news agency.
The Iranian leader also pointed out to statements made by Trump, saying that those who know Iran and its history “know that Iranians do not answer well to the language of threat”.
“And the Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable consequences.”
Earlier, Iran claimed firing hypersonic missiles at Israel as Khamenei vowed his country would show “no mercy” to its long time archfoe, hours after Trump demanded Tehran’s “unconditional surrender”.
“We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy,” Khamenei posted on X, hours after Trump’s escalatory remarks. – Agencies
