JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi in Iran on Tuesday, the first trip outside the territory of the former Soviet Union since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
President Putin's trip, which comes just days after US President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, sends a strong message to the West about Moscow's plans for closer strategic ties with Iran, China and India in the face of Western sanctions.
Footage of President Putin's meeting with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows the Russian leader and the Iranian president sitting together a few meters from the Supreme Leader, in a simple white room. Only the Iranian flag and portrait of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini can be seen in the background.
"Contacts with Khamenei are very important," Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, told reporters in Moscow.
"A dialogue of mutual trust has developed between them on the most important issues on the bilateral and international agenda. On most issues, our positions are close or identical," he said.
Launching the Kremlin, President Putin's meeting with President Raisi is the third time this year, after previously in Moscow and Asghabat. They have also spoken on the phone twice.
Citing TASS, Ushakov said the meeting with Iranian leaders could be used to exchange views on key aspects of bilateral cooperation, as well as on international and regional security issues, including the current situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program (JCPOA).
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Kremlin representatives named Tehran an important partner of Moscow, pointing out that relations between the two countries are friendly, have a centuries-old history and developed very effectively in various fields.
Ushakov noted that Russia and Iran have plans to take bilateral cooperation to a new level, the level of strategic partnership, so that appropriate interstate agreements are currently being prepared.
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