MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it expected President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart to soon sign a new interstate treaty between the two countries which was in the final stages of being agreed.
Putin held five hours of talks in the Kremlin with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi last month amid growing political, trade and military ties between Moscow and Tehran that the United States and Israel views with concern.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, told reporters on Wednesday that the new treaty would consolidate the strategic partnership between Moscow and Tehran and cover the full range of their ties.
“This document is not just timely, but also overdue,” said Zakharova.
“Since the signing of the current treaty, the international context has changed and relations between the two countries are experiencing an unprecedented upswing.”
Zakharova said the new treaty was expected to be signed during what she described as one of the upcoming contacts between the two presidents.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the TASS state news agency as saying that an exact date for a meeting between the two leaders had yet to be determined.
The Kremlin in November said Russia and Iran were developing their relations, “including in the field of military-technical cooperation”, but declined to comment on a suggestion by the White House that Iran may be considering providing Russia with ballistic missiles.
Iranian authorities have said military cooperation with Russia is expanding day by day. Iran said in November it had finalised arrangements for Russia to provide it with Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 pilot training aircraft.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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