Russia’s foreign ministry advised the United States on Thursday not to take military action against Iran, amid rumours that Washington will join Israel in the war.
Moscow issued the warning following a phone chat between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, in which they criticised Israeli attacks on Iran and called for a diplomatic settlement.
Israel launched waves of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes. “I may do it; I may not do it,” the president said.
However, Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters, “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation.”
Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences”, she added.
Following the leaders’ call, the Kremlin stated that Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions“.
According to Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov, Moscow and Beijing think that the conclusion of 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,” he added.
Putin is presenting himself as a mediator between the warring parties.
Russia is close to Iran, having strengthened military connections during its offensive against Ukraine, but it also seeks excellent relations with Israel.
Last week, Putin spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, proposing to be 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.
However, Western leaders, including US President Donald Trump and France’s Emmanuel Macron, have criticised Putin for attempting to mediate the situation while still conducting his own Ukraine offensive.
“He actually offered to help mediate; I said, ‘Do me a favour, mediate your own,’” Trump told reporters on Wednesday about Putin’s efforts.
“Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first; you can worry about this later.”
