19 July 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin, shunned by much of the world after his invasion of Ukraine, traveled to Tehran on Tuesday, a sign of deepening ties between the two nations, united in their isolation from the West.
Putin met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi soon after arriving, and then met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Later in the evening he was to meet with Raisi and Erdogan, as part of his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Putin discussed trade, energy, transport and the ongoing conflict in Syria in his meeting with Raisi, who is emerging as a key ally of Moscow.
The White House has claimed that Russia wants to acquire surveillance drones from Iran for use in Ukraine, but Peskov said this was not on the agenda in Tehran.
The presence of Erdogan, who has tried to position himself as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv, raised hopes that he could help build on progress made last week in Turkey, when Russia and Ukraine agreed to preliminary steps that would allow grain shipments to resume from Ukrainian ports.
Source: Washington Post
