Putin making efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East, Kremlin says

ISTANBUL

Russian president taking advantage of dialogue with Iran to address concern regarding strikes in region, according to the spokesperson

Russian President Vladimir Putin is making efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, state news agency TASS reported.

"Putin will certainly make, and is making, every effort to facilitate at least a minor easing of tensions,” Peskov said.

He underlined that in his conversations with leaders in the Middle East, Putin conveyed deep concern over strikes on infrastructure and took advantage of dialogue Russia maintains with Iranian leadership to address the issue.

Putin on Monday spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain, discussing the regional situation and expressing his willingness to help stabilize it.​​​​​​​ He spoke to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday.

The Middle East is currently engulfed in a major military confrontation amid coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which killed several top leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Israel and across the region, striking US military assets and energy facilities.