Putin Tells Iran's Pezeshkian Russia Will 'Do Everything' to Help End War as US-Iran Talks Stall

Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday, Oct. 8, that Russia is ready to "do everything we can" to help resolve the war between Iran and the United States.

The two men met in Turkmenistan ahead of the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, a gathering of former Soviet nations, in the Caspian resort of Avaza. Russian news agencies carried the remarks.

"You know our position," Putin said, per Interfax. "On our part, we are ready to do everything we can to help you resolve this situation."

He added that Iran is making "real efforts" to end a conflict that "broke out through no fault of its own." Putin also pointed to a "positive evolution" in Russian-Iranian relations.

The mediation offer

The meeting followed a Wednesday phone call. Iran's IRNA news agency said Putin told Pezeshkian then that Moscow is prepared to mediate efforts to end the war.

The two leaders also met last month on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan. Last year Moscow and Tehran signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership treaty" covering trade, military cooperation, science, culture and education. Both countries are under heavy Western sanctions.

The war itself began February 28 with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, according to Putin's account of the timeline as relayed by AFP.

Washington and Tehran are not on the same page

Putin's offer lands while direct U.S.-Iran diplomacy looks stuck. Pezeshkian said this week that negotiations with Washington were "meaningless."

President Donald Trump describes it differently. On Thursday he said the two countries are holding "productive" talks about ending the war. He also said the U.S. will not launch an attack on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections.

At a Peterbilt factory in Denton, Texas, Trump said Iran's leadership has largely been wiped out. "For the most part, their leaders are gone," he said. "That was one of our problems. We don't know who the hell to deal with, to be honest."

He said the U.S. is "trying to be nice to the current person, but we've got to deal with somebody at some point."

Trump predicted an easy win, saying victory will come "right after the election—but maybe before the election." He claimed Iran's currency is "valueless," that its navy of 159 ships is "lying beautifully at the bottom of the sea," and that its missile manufacturing capacity is "dead." Those are the president's claims, not independently confirmed figures.

At a rally in Oklahoma the same day, Trump said the war "will be over very soon" and that "prices are going to come pouring down." He did not give a timeline for prices.

What the war has cost and where U.S. forces stand

U.S. Central Command released video Thursday of the USS George Washington conducting flight operations in the Middle East, a show of presence in the region.

Al Jazeera has reported that at least 81 U.S. aircraft worth up to $3.3 billion have been lost or damaged in the war. That is a taxpayer bill worth watching as Congress heads into the election.

The Justice Department also announced charges against Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, a U.S. Department of Energy employee from Richland, Washington. Prosecutors allege he tried to provide material support to the Iran-backed Houthis.

According to court documents, he came to the FBI's attention after buying precursor chemicals often used in explosives, along with drone parts. Prosecutors allege he advised an undercover FBI source posing as a Houthi representative and traveled to Yemen in 2025 on an official passport issued during his earlier work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The charges are allegations, and no verdict has been reached.

Russia's role is disputed

Putin's framing of Iran as a blameless party in this war is not shared in Kyiv or Western capitals. Ukraine and Western governments have accused Iran of supplying Russia with Shahed drones and short-range missiles for use in Ukraine.

Russia, for its part, has been accused of supplying targeting data to Iran for strikes on U.S. interests in the Middle East. The sources do not detail that allegation, and Moscow's offer to "mediate" comes from a government accused of aiding one side.

Putin's own war in Ukraine is also deadlocked diplomatically. Both sides there are intensifying attacks.

What comes next

The next fixed date is November 3. Trump says there will be no U.S. attack on Iran before then and has floated an end to the war "right after the election—but maybe before."

Pezeshkian, meanwhile, calls the talks "meaningless" while the Russian president offers himself as a go-between. Those positions cannot all hold. Whether Washington or Tehran takes up Putin's offer, or whether the talks Trump calls "productive" produce anything before the midterms, is the open question.