The Kremlin has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged all sides in the Middle East to refrain from action that would trigger a new confrontation which he warned would be fraught with catastrophic consequences for the region, Reuters reports.

Putin, who has forged much closer ties with the Islamic Republic since sending troops into Ukraine in 2022, spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi by phone about what the Kremlin called “retaliatory measures taken by Iran”.

“Vladimir Putin expressed hope that all sides would show reasonable restraint and prevent a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region,” the Kremlin said.

“Both sides stated that the root cause of the current events in the Middle East is the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the Kremlin said of the call with Raisi.

“In this regard, the principled approaches of Russia and Iran in favour of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, easing the difficult humanitarian situation and creating conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis were confirmed.”