Putin offers help to end Iran-US war as Pezeshkian says talks continue in Turkmenistan
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will do "everything in our power" to help end the war between Iran and the United States, during a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Avazeh on Turkmenistan's Caspian coast. The comments came as the two leaders met on Thursday, adding a new diplomatic layer to an already active effort to halt the conflict. Putin praised what he described as Tehran's genuine efforts to resolve the war, while positioning Moscow as willing to assist.
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Pezeshkian said Iran and the United States had exchanged proposals aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He said Tehran was reviewing and amending the proposals before consolidating them through mediators, and insisted Iran would remain at the negotiating table despite continued US attacks. "We are talking, but every time we negotiate with the United States, they attack again," he said.
"Nevertheless, we will not abandon the negotiating table and dialogue." The meeting was the seventh between Putin and Pezeshkian since the Iranian president took office, according to the supplied material. It followed a phone call on 7 October, which the two leaders used to discuss regional developments and the Iran-US negotiations. They had also met in person on 1 September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit in Bishkek, underlining the frequency of their contacts as the conflict continues.
The latest exchange matters because it places Russia publicly alongside a conflict in which it is not currently a mediator. The supplied material says Qatar and Pakistan have led the talks so far, while Russia has deepened political, military and economic ties with Iran since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That broader relationship has become more significant as both countries face pressure from Western governments and as regional security tensions remain high.
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The background to the talks also includes the wider war that began with joint US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, which has driven more frequent consultations between Moscow and Tehran. The supplied material says Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed drone technology and short-range missiles since 2022, while Moscow has been accused of providing Tehran with targeting information for attacks on US interests in the Middle East. Trade between the two countries rose by more than 21% in 2025 and continued to grow in the first seven months of the following year, according to the same material.
What remains unclear is whether Russia's offer will lead to any formal role in the negotiations or whether the current mediators will continue to handle the process alone. It is also not clear how far the latest proposals between Iran and the United States have progressed, or whether the reported revisions will produce a breakthrough. The next developments to watch are any follow-up talks through the existing mediators and any response from Washington, Tehran, Qatar or Pakistan.
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