Putin says Russia could broker Israel-Iran deal even as it ramps up attacks on Ukraine

The offer to mediate between Israel and Iran comes as Russia has intensified its war against Ukraine, including striking residential buildings in Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, even as Moscow steps up its war against Ukraine. Speaking to international news agency editors in St Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin suggested that Moscow could help negotiate a settlement allowing Tehran to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme while assuaging Israeli security concerns.Putin said it was a "delicate issue" but believed that "a solution could be found".The Russian leader said he had shared Moscow's proposal with Iran, Israel and the US."We are not imposing anything on anyone; we are simply talking about how we see a possible way out of the situation. But the decision, of course, is up to the political leadership of all these countries, primarily Iran and Israel," he said.Israel hit a critical Iranian nuclear site and Iranian missiles struck an Israeli hospital on Thursday, the seventh day of a conflict that started with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists in Iran.The Israeli air campaign against its rival has killed several Iranian military commanders and hundreds of civilians, while Iran's strikes in response have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel.Asked how Russia would react if Israel were to kill Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin refused to answer, saying he did not "want to discuss such a possibility".Khamenei has rejected US calls for surrender in the face of Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by Washington would cause "irreparable damage". US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the US knew where Khamenei was "hiding" but that "we are not going to take him out ... at least not for now". Strikes on civilians in UkraineRussia has maintained a balancing act in the Middle East for decades, staying on good terms with Israel even as it developed strong economic and military ties with Iran, a policy that could allow Moscow to play power broker in the region. Yet the Kremlin signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tehran in January, while its relationship with Israel has been tested by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. After the Israel-Iran conflict broke out last Friday, Russia has urged Israel to show restraint in its campaign against Iran and condemned its attacks against its rival as "violations of the UN charter and international law" — the same contraventions the international community has repeatedly said Moscow has been committing in Ukraine.Asked on Wednesday at the St Petersburg meeting about Russia denouncing Israel’s strikes on Iran while Ukrainian civilians are being killed in attacks by Moscow, Putin responded that Russia was targeting the country's arms factories.However, widespread damage to residential buildings and other civilian targets in Ukraine has been documented during the conflict, including this week. On Wednesday, Ukrainian emergency workers pulled more bodies from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian attack earlier this week, raising the death toll from the strike on the capital to 28. Russia's intensified attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks have been condemned by several international organisations — including the OSCE and the Council of Europe — as violations of international humanitarian law. Two rounds of direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv failed to make progress on ending Russia's war, now in its fourth year.