Comment RIGA, Latvia — Russian President Vladimir Putin, shunned by much of the world after his invasion of Ukraine, traveled to Iran on Tuesday in 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 in Tehran, and then with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Later in the evening, he held talks with both Raisi and Erdogan, part of his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the war in Ukraine began in February. Khamenei said the West did not want Russia to be strong, describing the United States as “wicked” and NATO as “dangerous,” according to Iranian state media. “As far as Ukraine is concerned, if you didn’t take the initiative, the other side would have started the war,” Khamenei said, IRNA reported, echoing a common talking point from Putin. Putin also discussed trade, energy, transport and the conflict in Syria in his meeting with Raisi, who is emerging as a key ally of Moscow. Ukraine Live Update: Putin meets Erdogan and Raishi in Iran. The first lady of Ukraine in the White House Russian President Vladimir Putin was seen limping off his plane upon his arrival in Tehran for a meeting with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 19. (Video: Associated Press) Putin admitted on Monday at a meeting with government officials that Western sanctions had created “colossal” difficulties for the Russian economy. He sought to expand trade with China, Asia and the Middle East to compensate for plummeting imports from the West. Putin’s only other international trip since February was late last month, when he flew to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. In his meeting with Raisi, he praised growing trade ties with Iran, sending a message to his Russian audience that while Western companies have left the country in droves, Moscow still has reliable friends. “We can boast of record numbers in terms of trade growth,” Putin said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia and Iran were used to Western sanctions, which he called the price of their independence. “Iran has been subject to sanctions of various kinds for decades … which, as we must stress directly, we consider absolutely illegal from the point of view of international law,” Peskov said in comments to Iranian media broadcast on Russian state television. He said improving relations with Iran was “a long-term line of our foreign policy,” adding that a strategic cooperation agreement would likely be signed in the coming months. The White House has raised concerns that Russia wants to acquire armed drones from Iran for use in Ukraine, but Peskov said that was not on Tehran’s agenda. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the United States has no evidence that the sale of drones between the countries has yet been completed. The presence of Erdogan, who has sought to position himself as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev, boosted hopes he could help build on progress made last week in Turkey, when Russia and Ukraine agreed on preliminary measures that would allow the resumption of grain shipments from Ukrainian ports. Russia is blocking Ukrainian shipping routes in the Black Sea, including the main port of Odessa, contributing to a global food crisis as the price of bread, cooking oil and fertilizer soars. More than 100 ships laden with grain are estimated to be stuck in port or at sea. UN officials, who are also helping broker the grain deal between Ukraine and Russia, said more work needed to be done. During a news conference on Monday, Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said “we have no particular expectations” that a deal on grains will emerge from the tripartite meeting in Iran. Since the talks in Istanbul last week, he added, “we feel that gradually, a little more progress has been made, but there is nothing to announce at this stage.” Putin struck a similar note at the start of his meeting with Erdogan, saying: “It is true that not all issues have been resolved yet, but the fact that there is movement is already good.” The leaders also discussed Turkey’s plans for a military invasion of northern Syria, targeting a militia led by U.S.-allied Kurds. Ankara says the planned operation aims to push back militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it considers a terrorist group. However, any military operation could bring Turkey into conflict with Iran and Russia, which are allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and have maintained military forces in the country. Khamenei appeared to voice his displeasure during a meeting with Erdogan on Tuesday, saying a military strike was “certainly to the detriment of Syria, Turkey and the region”. A Putin aide, Yuri Usakov, said before the Tehran meetings that Russia opposes any action that violates Syria’s territorial integrity. But as the leaders gathered late Tuesday to address the media, Erdogan brushed off Russian and Iranian opposition to his military plans: “I hear from you, my dear friends, that you understand Turkey’s security concerns. I am grateful for that. However, words alone do not heal wounds.” Erdogan also criticized attacks on civilians in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province by Russia or the Syrian government, saying they “undermine our efforts for a political solution.” Putin’s visit comes days after President Biden visited Saudi Arabia and Israel, where he addressed fears that China and Russia are seeking to fill a power vacuum in the Middle East. “We cannot let that happen,” he said Friday in Tel Aviv. “There is a reality in the region with Russia at the center of it,” said Vali Nasr, professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. “This has contradicted the United States’ belief that the dynamic [in the region] it’s about Israel and the Arabs coming together against Iran. The Putin-Erdogan-Raisi meetings show that there are other players and dynamics beyond those in Riyadh last week.” As talks began in Tehran, National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and Russian gas producer Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding worth approximately $40 billion. Gazprom will help NIOC develop the Kish and North Pars gas fields as well as six oil fields, according to Shana, the news agency of Iran’s oil ministry. Gazprom will also participate in the completion of liquefied natural gas projects and the construction of natural gas export pipelines. Iran has the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, but Western sanctions have slowed export growth. Fahim reported from Istanbul. Chui reported from Washington. Sean Fanning in London contributed to this report.
