TEHRAN -- Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he demanded Tehran stop allegedly providing Russia with weapons in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir-Abdollahian.
Ukrainian officials and their Western allies have accused Iran of providing so-called “kamikaze” drones to Russia, which have recently been used to devastating effect by Moscow’s forces.
Iran has strenuously denied that it has sent any weaponry, including drones, to Russia.
“Today, I received a call from Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian,” Kuleba wrote in a tweet late on Friday.
“I demanded Iran to immediately cease the flow of weapons to Russia used to kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” he wrote.
Amir-Abdollahian rejected the allegations of sending drones to Russia, saying Iran opposes the war in Ukraine as much as it opposes wars elsewhere.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has experienced an eight-year imposed war and is therefore against wars in Ukraine, Yemen and elsewhere,” he said.
“We have good relations with Russia and have had defense cooperation in the past, but our policy toward the war in Ukraine is to respect the territorial integrity of the countries, not to send weapons to the warring parties, and call for an end to the war and displacement of people,” he said.
The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic is completely clear and is based on a single standard which is opposition to war, he added.
On Monday, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was ready to discuss the Western countries’ allegations about exporting drones to Russia in a joint session with Ukrainian officials.
Amir-Abdollahian reiterated those remarks on Friday, telling his Ukrainian counterpart that Tehran is ready to hold technical meetings with the presence of military experts between the two countries without the need for any intermediaries.
He also said Iran is ready to help the two sides reach a ceasefire.
“I believe that Ukraine should be careful not to be influenced by some extreme European politicians,” he added.
Kuleba, for his part, appreciated Iran’s position, saying it was important to hold talks between the technical-military delegations of the two countries. He also said Kiev does not act under the influence of third parties.