Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call have condemned Israel for its strikes on Iran and agreed de-escalation was needed, Reuters reports.

Both men have strongly condemned “Israeli actions which violated the UN Charter and other norms of international law”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

He said there has been a consensus that Israeli and Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme could not be solved militarily and that a diplomatic solution was needed.

Xi had told Putin he was in favour of Russian mediation efforts on Iran because he believed it could help de-escalate the situation, Ushakov said.