Following a call made by the leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have called for a de-escalation of the Israeli-Iranian conflict.
After their shared geopolitical rival, the United States, indicated it had not ruled out joining Israel’s strikes on Iran, the presidents on Thursday showed a united front in their response to the escalating crisis.
In a thinly veiled reference to Washington during the call, Xi demanded “major powers” to calm the conflict. Russia, which has a strategic cooperation agreement with Tehran, claims that it has been pressing the US not to attack Iran because it would significantly destabilize the region and increase the chance of nuclear war.
Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin aide, said to reporters that Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions, which are against the UN Charter and other international law norms,” according to news reports.
Both leaders “fundamentally believe that there is no military solution to the current situation and issues relating to Iran’s nuclear program,” he said, adding that a solution “must be achieved only through political and diplomatic means.”
Putin has offered to help his country with the Iran nuclear program, but he has not yet accepted his offer.
Putin reiterated his suggestion to mediate the conflict, and Xi expressed his support during the call, according to Ushakov, “because he believes it could de-escalate the current acute situation.”
During the call, Xi demanded that all parties, “especially Israel,” “cease hostilities as soon as possible to stop a cyclical escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war,” according to Chinese state media.
According to Chinese state media, he further stated that “major countries” with “special influence” in the region should increase their diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation in an ostensible reference to the US.
“Rough edges”
The leaders also made comments about the apparent friction between Western leaders at the most recent G7 summit in Canada, according to Ushakov.
According to the Reuters news agency, the Kremlin aide said, “They noted the well-known rough edges that emerged in the relations between participants.”
The G7, a loose association of major industrialized democracies, met on Tuesday to conclude its most recent summit without leaders issuing a joint statement in support of Ukraine, as it has done in recent years.
Trump left the summit a day earlier than expected, making vehement remarks about Iran on his return, which heightened concerns about US involvement in the conflict.
Cooperation between Iran and Russia
In January, Moscow and Tehran signed a protracted-looking strategic cooperation agreement, strengthening ties between the allies who oppose the United States.
Russia has supported Iran’s contentious nuclear program, which Tehran claims is for peaceful civilian purposes, despite the fact that it has not yet provided it with weapons.
Putin stated on Thursday that an agreement had been reached with Israel regarding their safety and that more than 200 Russians were still employed at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant.
At a summit in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, Xi made his first public remarks about the crisis, saying he was “deeply concerned” about Israel’s military operation against Iran.
