- Russia warned the US against military intervention in the Iran-Israel conflict, citing risks
- Russia urged Israel to stop air strikes on the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran
- Russia cautioned the US against providing direct military aid to Israel, warning of destabilisation
Russia, on Thursday, warned the United States against 'military intervention' in Iran-Israel war, according to AFP.
"We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences," Russia's foreign ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
The head of Russia's nuclear energy corporation warned on Thursday that an Israeli attack on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant could lead to a "Chernobyl-style catastrophe".
An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel had struck the site, but an Israeli military official later called this statement "a mistake" and said he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr site on the cost of the Gulf had been hit.
Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant and was built by Russia, per Reuters.
A day earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that he was considering joining Israel on the strikes against Iran. "I may do it, I may not do it," he said.
On Wednesday, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the US against offering direct military aid to Israel. Ryabkov said, "We caution Washington against even speculative, hypothetical options of this kind. It would be a step that would radically destabilize the entire situation."
Meanwhile, Zakharova said the Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure meant the world was "millimetres" from catastrophe.
"Nuclear facilities are being struck," she told Reuters, adding that the U.N. nuclear safety watchdog had already noted specific damage.
"Where is the (concern from the) entire world community? Where are all the environmentalists? I don't know if they think they are far away and that this (radiation) wave won't reach them. Well, let them read what happened at Fukushima," she said, referring to the 2011 accident at the Japanese nuclear plant.
On Wednesday, along with the UAE, Russia had called for an immediate cessation of the conflict between Iran and Israel, and suggested a diplomatic and political solution for Tehran's nuclear issue.
"The imperative of an early cessation of hostilities and intensification of political and diplomatic efforts in the interests of resolving controversial issues related to the Iranian nuclear programme was emphasised," the Kremlin said in a statement after President Vladimir Putin had a telephonic conversation with his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin had called up Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering to be a peacemaker.
However, Trump pushed back on Putin mediating the Iran-Israel conflict.
"He actually offered to help mediate, I said: 'do me a favour, mediate your own'," Trump told reporters on Wednesday about Putin's efforts.
"Let's mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later."
