Putin calls Iran president, offers help as US talks collapse

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, offering support to help resolve the escalating Middle East crisis following the collapse of talks between Iran and the United States.

“Vladimir Putin emphasised his readiness to further facilitate the search for a political and diplomatic settlement to the conflict, and to mediate efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said in its readout of the call, according to AFP.

The development came as the entire US negotiating team withdrew from failed discussions in Islamabad, with no officials remaining in the Pakistani capital to continue back-channel efforts, a US official confirmed.

Officials said the delegation, including chief negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, departed after marathon talks yielded no meaningful progress on the conflict involving Iran.

During a stopover at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, a US official travelling with Vice President JD Vance said no members of the team stayed behind, despite earlier speculation that further negotiations might continue.

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Washington failed to build trust during the discussions.

“My colleagues in the Iranian delegation put forward constructive initiatives, but the other side was unable to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation,” he said in a post on X.