“This is not our war — the side that started it can also end it,” declared Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, in an interview with Russian state television on Thursday, March 5, 2026.
Peskov confirmed that Russia has received no official request for assistance from Iran and emphasized that Moscow has no intention of becoming involved in the conflict — despite close political and strategic ties between the Kremlin and Tehran.
“We see an increasingly large number of countries getting drawn into this conflict. We are acting solely in accordance with our national interests,” he said.
He added: “We cannot stop this war. Only the party that initiated it has the ability — and the responsibility — to halt it, if it chooses to do so.”
Russia and Iran signed a strategic cooperation agreement last year and share a common goal of challenging U.S.-led global order. Yet Moscow has largely remained outside the active hostilities, offering only public diplomatic support through international forums like the United Nations, according to the Wall Street Journal.