MOSCOW
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Turkmenistan on Thursday to discuss expanding bilateral economic and strategic cooperation, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States leaders’ summit and a Caspian Sea environmental summit, according to IRNA.
The two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral relations and discussed strengthening cooperation in key sectors, including energy, agriculture, transportation and trade.
They also emphasized the need to accelerate the finalization and completion of joint projects and reaffirmed their commitment to expanding comprehensive cooperation in line with both countries’ national interests and regional stability.
The two leaders last met in person on Sept. 1 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where they discussed bilateral relations and the US-Iran conflict.
During the meeting, Putin described the US-Iran ceasefire as “unstable and too fragile” and pledged continued support for Tehran.
More recently, Pezeshkian and Putin spoke by phone Wednesday to discuss Iran-US negotiations, with the Russian president expressing Moscow’s readiness to support diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
Putin arrived in Turkmenistan on Thursday for a two-day visit to attend the CIS leaders’ summit and the Caspian Sea environmental summit in the Avaza National Tourist Zone on the Caspian coast.
The CIS summit is expected to review cooperation among member states as well as regional and international developments.
The Caspian summit brings together the leaders of the five littoral states – Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan – with environmental cooperation in the Caspian Sea region on the agenda.
