America's two rivals are cementing their ties just days before President Trump returns to the historic Oval Office. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian they meet in Moscow to sign a cooperation agreement.
Pezeshkian, who won the presidency in Iran's July election, is set to hold talks with Putin and take part in the signing of a cooperation pact on his first trip to Moscow as president.
“Iran is an important partner for us with which we are developing cooperation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to a Reuters report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shake hands as they meet in Moscow, Russia Jan. 17, 2025. (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)
The leaders of Russia and Iran are expected to discuss the development of transport corridors for trade and energy talks, Bloomberg reports. While Iran wants to become a Russian gas hub, there are no signs that the two have made much progress on the project, Bloomberg added.
National security adviser, Jake Sullivan, recently said that the Biden administration is leaving Russia, China and Iran “weak” before Trump returns to Washington, as the Kremlin is making its moves in the world.
SULLIVAN BIDEN ADMIN LEAVES RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN 'WEAKER,' AMERICA 'SAFER' BEFORE TRUMP HANDOFF
Among the sanctions from the US and its allies, Russia has strengthened its relations and other anti-Western nations, such as Iran and North Korea. In fact, Russia's relationship with Iran has grown since Putin invaded Ukraine, which led to a multi-year war.
Vladimir Putin, left, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right (Reuters/AP)
President Trump's incoming special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Ret. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg has urged the US to return to a policy of “high pressure” on Iran.
“For the United States, the policy of high pressure must be reversed, and it must be reversed with the help of the rest of the world, and that includes standing with the Iranian people and their democratic aspirations,” Kellogg he said on one occasion. sponsored by the Iranian opposition group, The National Council of Resistance of Iran, Paris.
Kellogg also urges the US to stand with the Iranian people against the Tehran regime.
BLINKEN ASSURES IRAN TO DELIVER RUSSIA WITH BALLISTIC MISSILES.
Despite the fears of the US and its partners about the alliance, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov said that the cooperation agreement should not be a cause for concern.
“This agreement, like our agreement with North Korea, does not target anyone,” Lavrov said, according to Heavenly Matters.
In June, Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, where the two signed an aid agreement that brought the two countries closer than ever before the fall of the Soviet Union. . Putin also expressed his gratitude for Kim's “unwavering support” of the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony after bilateral talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via REUTERS)
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“We have seen (…) Russia is trying, in desperation, to develop and strengthen relations with countries that can give it what it needs to continue the aggressive war it has started against Ukraine,” the Secretary of State of the United States Antony Blinken said. at that time.
He added that the US “will do everything we can to end the support that countries like Iran and North Korea provide.”