Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow was in favour of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran but it was hard to tell if it would last.
“It is very difficult to make any final conclusions now and get a clear picture,” Lavrov said, in Russia’s first reaction to the ceasefire agreement announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“It’s reported that the Americans convinced Israel to agree to a ceasefire and to establish an indefinite truce, that our Qatari friends played a similar role with regard to Tehran,” he said.
“But after it was announced, there were reports of strikes, of an exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran. Therefore, let us not make any hasty conclusions based on fragmentary information.”
In parallel, the Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia had supported Iran “with its clear position” on condemning U.S. and “Israeli” strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and that Moscow intended to further develop its ties with Tehran.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about criticism from some commentators who have suggested Russia did not do enough to support Iran, with which it has a strategic partnership pact.
Peskov said that “many people are trying to spoil relations between Moscow and Tehran by adding fuel to the fire.”
He noted that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who held talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, had said he highly valued Russia’s role.
Araqchi thanked Putin for condemning U.S. strikes on Iran, telling him Russia stood on “the right side of history”.
