Russia has warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid growing speculation over whether Washington will join Israel in the ongoing war.
The warning, issued by Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday, followed a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the call, both leaders condemned Israeli strikes on Iran and stressed the need for a diplomatic resolution to the escalating conflict.
Recall that Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Iran last week, prompting retaliatory drone and missile attacks from Tehran.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was still weighing his options: “I may do it, I may not do it.”
Reacting to Trump’s remarks, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation.” even as Russia warns US against military intervention.
Any US action, she said, “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences.
Earlier Thursday, the Kremlin disclosed that Putin and Xi had “strongly condemned Israel’s actions.”
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said both leaders believed that the fighting should be halted “exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”
As Russia warns US against military intervention, “Xi had spoken in favour of such mediation, since he believes that it could serve to de-escalate the current situation.”
However, Western leaders have shown skepticism toward Putin’s offer, pointing to Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
US President Trump dismissed Putin’s mediation effort, saying: “He actually offered to help mediate, I said: ‘do me a favour, mediate your own.’”
“Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.”
