Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Wednesday to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, suggesting Moscow could help negotiate a settlement that could allow Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic program while assuaging Israeli security concerns.

Speaking at a roundtable session with senior news leaders of international news agencies, Putin noted that “it’s a delicate issue,” but added that “in my view, a solution could be found.”

Putin said he shared Moscow’s proposals with Iran, Israel and the United States. His comments follow a mediation offer that he made in a call with U.S. President Donald Trump last weekend.

Putin also said that Iranian society was consolidating around the Islamic Republic’s leadership when asked if he agreed with Israeli statements about possible regime change in Tehran.

“We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there…that there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” the Russian leader said.

Putin emphasized that Russia has trusting relationship with Iran and built its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr.

Blasts were heard across the north and east of the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday as the Israeli military said it was striking military targets, on the sixth day of the air war between the archfoes.

Video footage shared online showed smoke billowing from targeted areas in Tehran.

It came as Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described on Wednesday as “unacceptable” an ultimatum from US President Donald Trump calling for the nation’s “unconditional surrender,” saying his country will never surrender.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said Israel’s offensive in Iran has killed at least 585 people and wounded 1,326 others, while Israel says dozens have been killed and hundreds wounded in retaliatory Iranian strikes.

In the Gaza Strip, more than 30 people have been killed including 11 waiting for aid in Israeli strikes and gunfire across the territory since the start of the Wednesday, according to rescuers.

A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Moshe Mizrahi/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Item 1 of 2 A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Moshe Mizrahi/File Photo

Summary Talks coordinated with US, source says

Aim is to get guarantees on nuclear programme, source says

BERLIN, June 18 (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

The ministers will first meet with the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, at Germany’s permanent mission in Geneva before holding a joint meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, the source said.

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The European initiative comes amid fears of a spiralling conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched wide-ranging military strikes on its arch-enemy Iran last week and Iran sent waves of missiles at Israeli targets in response.

President Donald Trump has declined to say whether the United States will join its ally Israel’s military campaign, fuelling concerns that the crisis could intensify.

The aim of the talks between Iran and the Europeans, which the German source said are taking place in coordination with the United States, is to persuade the Iranian side to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear programme solely for civilian purposes.

According to the source, the talks are to be followed by a structured dialogue at the expert level.

Israel has said its goal is to eliminate Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies that its nuclear programme is for military purposes.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has spoken out in support of Israel’s attack and angered Tehran this week by saying the Iranians should de-escalate or face the threat of even greater destruction.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday appealed to Iran’s leaders to work towards a solution that would involve assurances over its nuclear programme, telling them: “It’s never too late to come to the negotiating table”.

Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Marguerita Choy and Daniel Wallis

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Russia is telling the US not to strike Iran because it would radically destabilise the Middle East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said yesterday, and Moscow said Israeli strikes risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe.

Russia signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a relationship with Israel, although it has been strained by Moscow’s war in Ukraine. A Russian offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict has not been taken up.

Ryabkov, speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in St Petersburg, told Interfax news agency Moscow was urging Washington to refrain from direct involvement.

“This would be a step that would radically destabilise the entire situation,” Interfax cited Ryabkov as saying, and criticising such “speculative, conjectural options.”

The head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, has said the situation between Iran and Israel is now critical and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure meant the world was “millimetres” from catastrophe.

“Nuclear facilities are being struck,” she told Reuters, adding that the UN nuclear safety watchdog had already noted specific damage.

“Where is the (concern from the) entire world community? Where are all the environmentalists? I don’t know if they think they are far away and that this (radiation) wave won’t reach them. Well, let them read what happened at Fukushima,” she said, referring to the 2011 accident at the Japanese nuclear plant.

Israel says it has struck Iranian nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran developing an atomic weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear arms.

In a 20-year strategic partnership pact signed in January by President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Russia did not undertake to help Tehran militarily and is under no obligation to do so despite the countries’ close military ties.

Putin, who has already lost an important partner in the Middle East with the fall of Syria’s Bashar Al Assad last December, spoke to US President Donald Trump by phone on Saturday. He offered Moscow’s services as a mediator, which Trump said he was open to before demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”

A source familiar with US internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options including joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, has said the conflict – though opposed by Russia – could yield some benefits to Moscow including higher oil prices, more appetite from China for Russian oil because of difficulties sourcing Iranian oil and a reallocation of US military resources away from Ukraine.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart tomorrow in Geneva, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

The ministers will first meet the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, at Germany’s permanent mission in Geneva before holding a joint meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, the source said.

The aim of the talks between Iran and the Europeans, which the German source said are taking place in co-ordination with the US, is to persuade the Iranian side to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear programme solely for civilian purposes.

Geneva / Berlin — Germany’s foreign minister, France’s foreign minister, and Britain’s foreign minister are due to hold talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva this Friday in high-stakes nuclear negotiations, a German diplomatic source said. The talks are taking place in coordination with the United States.

Before sitting down with the Iranian delegation, European ministers will first meet with the European Union’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, at Germany’s permanent mission in Geneva. A simultaneous meeting with Iran’s foreign minister will come soon after.

The key objective of the negotiations is to persuade Iran to provide clear and firm guarantees that its nuclear program will be utilized exclusively for peaceful and civilian applications.

This top-level diplomatic interaction will be followed by elaborate technical discussions at the level of specialists. These specialist-level discussions will inform a structured conversation in the future.

The development comes amid increasing worries about Iran’s nuclear program and tensions in the region following recent attacks in Tehran. The international community is seeking to prevent further escalation through dialogue and diplomacy.