Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Turkmenistan on Thursday, vowing to do “everything” to help bring an end to the Middle East war, as the two leaders held talks ahead of a regional summit on the Caspian Sea coast.
The meeting, held in the resort town of Turkmenbashi on the evening of October 8, 2026, brought together the leaders of two of the world’s most sanctioned nations ahead of Friday’s Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit.
“We are ready to do everything that is in our power to contribute to the settlement of this situation,” Putin said, adding that Iran had made “real efforts to end the war” since US-Israeli attacks started on February 28, according to Russian news agencies.
FAKTA
- Meeting: Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian, Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan — Thursday evening, October 8, 2026
- Occasion: Ahead of the CIS summit (starting Friday) and the Caspian Sea environmental summit
- Putin’s pledge: Russia will do “everything” in its power to help settle the Middle East war
- Pezeshkian’s message: “We will not walk away from the negotiating table” — even as Tehran accuses Washington of launching new attacks during talks
- Bilateral ties: Putin noted a “positive evolution” in Russia-Iran relations; trade turnover between the two rose 21% in 2025, TASS reported
Iran stays at the table, Pezeshkian says
President Pezeshkian told Putin that Iran remains committed to diplomacy despite accusing the United States of launching new attacks each time the two sides talk.
“Proposals were exchanged, both from our side and from the Americans, and we have made our own revisions to them. Once finalized, we intend to sit down with the relevant intermediaries to consolidate and conclude the matter,” Pezeshkian said, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian praised Moscow’s consistent opposition to unilateralism and thanked Russia for its positions at the regional level and in the United Nations. He also expressed satisfaction with the expanding ties between Tehran and Moscow, stressing the need to deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, the economy and people-to-people fields.
Deepening Moscow-Tehran ties
Russia and Iran have significantly deepened military and trade ties since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, becoming increasingly reliant on each other under heavy Western sanctions.
The Turkmenistan gathering marks another public display of that partnership. Putin arrived Thursday for a two-day working visit to attend both the CIS summit and the Caspian Environmental Summit in the Avaza National Tourist Zone. Other participants include the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The meeting between the two presidents was their first on the sidelines of the summit and came amid intense diplomacy over the Middle East war. Russian state-controlled media framed the talks as evidence of close coordination between Moscow and Tehran on the path to a settlement.
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