Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said it was possible to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Iran, as he noted that Moscow was ready to help in this regard.
“We are in contact with Israel, we are in contact with Iran. We have quite trusting relations. And we would very much like this endless exchange of blows to be stopped at some point. And for such ways to resolve the situation to be found that would satisfy both sides,” Putin told reporters.
“The answer to this question always lies in the search for compromises. Are they possible in this situation or not? I think so. No matter how difficult it may be, but in my opinion, it is possible.”
Israel has decapitated the leadership of Iran’s allies Hamas and Hezbollah in recent weeks, and Iran fired missiles into Israel in retaliation on Oct. 1. The region is now braced for Israel’s response.
Putin said Russia was willing to get involved if both sides wanted that.
“If this is in demand, we are ready to do everything in our power in contact with both sides to help find these compromises,” he said.
‘Russia won’t let Ukraine obtain nuclear weapons’
Putin also said Russia would not let Ukraine get nuclear weapons after Ukraine’s leader said that since Kyiv had given up its Soviet-era nuclear arms, it must join NATO.
Putin said any move by Ukraine to get nuclear weapons could not be concealed and would draw an appropriate Russian response. “Russia will not allow this to happen, no matter what,” he told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday he had told U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump that Ukraine needed either nuclear weapons or NATO membership for its security – but as it gave up nuclear weapons after the break-up of the Soviet Union, joining NATO was the only way it could deter Russia.
Zelenskyy later clarified that he had never said Ukraine was preparing to build a nuclear weapon. “We don’t do nuclear weapons. Please, don’t move these messages,” he said.
Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons after the breakup of the Soviet Union but voluntarily relinquished them in the 1990s in return for guarantees of its territorial integrity, a deal it says Moscow reneged on by invading its land.
