Russian president discusses 'unprecedented' and 'tragic' situation with Middle Eastern leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with the leaders of several Arab countries in the Middle East on Monday and discussed the situation in the region following the US and Israeli joint strikes on Iran on Saturday morning.

According to a Kremlin statement, speaking with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Putin described the events as "unprecedented" and "tragic" and characterized the American-Israeli actions as "aggression against Iran."

Putin highlighted Russia's role in US-Iran talks aimed at facilitating a peaceful settlement of the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program and the search for mutually acceptable compromises, noting that the Emirati side also played an active role in this process.

"However, the existing groundwork was disrupted as a result of an unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign state -- a UN member -- in violation of fundamental principles of international law," the statement read.

For his part, Al Nahyan emphasized that Iranian retaliatory strikes directly affected the UAE as well, causing damage to the country and posing a threat to civilians.

"Such strikes are being carried out despite the fact that the territory of the UAE is not used as a staging ground for attacks on Iran and are therefore unjustified," the statement continued.

Putin expressed his readiness to convey these signals to Tehran and, more broadly, to provide any assistance necessary to stabilize the regional situation.

During Putin's phone call with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, both sides expressed mutual concern about the risks of the conflict expanding and the danger of third countries being drawn into it.

"At the same time, hope was expressed that Iranian retaliatory actions would not harm civilians and civilian infrastructure of neighboring countries, including facilities in the tourism and transport sectors," the Kremlin statement said.

During the phone conversation with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the two leaders discussed how the current development of events particularly threatens the security of many Arab states with which Russia maintains friendly relations.

"Taking all this into account, Vladimir Putin confirmed the readiness of the Russian side to use all available opportunities to actively contribute to stabilizing the situation in the region," it added.

According to the Kremlin, the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to the political-diplomatic process was emphasized during the talks with the Arab leaders.