MOSCOW: Russia called for a "political and diplomatic" settlement to the Middle East war just as US President Donald Trump revealed Washington and Tehran had held talks on ending the conflict. In a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov urged an "immediate cessation of hostilities and a political settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of all parties involved, above all Iran," the Russian foreign ministry said in a readout of the call.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier said the "situation should have transitioned to a political and diplomatic settlement." "This is the only thing that can effectively contribute to defusing the catastrophically tense situation that has now developed in the region," Peskov told reporters at a briefing. He was speaking before Trump's statement that talks had taken place.
Russia — which helped build Iran's only operational nuclear power plant at Bushehr — has warned against strikes that could endanger the site that the UN's nuclear watchdog announced last week was hit by a projectile. "Of course, this poses a very serious security threat if this trend continues," Peskov said on Monday. "We consider strikes on nuclear facilities to be potentially extremely dangerous and fraught with, perhaps even irreversible, consequences," he added. — AFP
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