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Putin talks by phone with Iranian leader about fight against COVID-19 — Kremlin

The presidents reaffirmed the desire to facilitate mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian relations in various fields, the Russian presidential press office reported

MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi addressed countering the COVID-19 pandemic in talks over the phone, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

"[The presidents] reaffirmed the desire to facilitate mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian relations in various fields. In particular, the successful development of trade and economic ties along with well-established cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 spread were touched upon," the statement reads.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Russian president decided to self-isolate after contacting individuals infected with the coronavirus. According to the Kremlin press service, due to this Putin will participate in a session of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), a session of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Council of heads of state and a joint session of the SCO and the CSTO heads of state scheduled for this week in Dushanbe in a video conference format.

Last week, Iran’s ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told reporters that the meeting between Raisi and Putin was planned on the sidelines of the SCO summit. After the announcement of the Russian leader’s self-isolation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the talks had been postponed indefinitely.