Russian authorities emphasized this Wednesday that the two-week ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran demonstrates the “crushing defeat” of the policy of “launching an aggressive and unprovoked attack.” This statement marks a fresh criticism of the surprise offensive unleashed on February 28 by Israeli and U.S. forces against the Asian nation—an offensive launched right in the midst of negotiations between Tehran and Washington aimed at reaching a new nuclear deal.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova underscored in an interview with Russian media that “the stance of a unilateral, aggressive, and unprovoked attack” has suffered “a crushing defeat.” She further noted that Moscow has called for “an immediate end to the aggression” against Iran “from the very beginning,” according to reports by the Russian news agency TASS.
Consequently, she reiterated that Russia has consistently maintained that “there is no military solution to this situation” and that “to restore order in the region, it is necessary to immediately initiate a political and diplomatic process—not a disguised operation—founded upon negotiations that demonstrate genuine respect for the positions [of the respective parties involved].”
Hours earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had agreed to “suspend attacks” against Iran for a two-week period. In response, Tehran emphasized that, for these two weeks, “safe” passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be possible—albeit “through coordination” with the Asian nation’s military. Subsequently, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that the agreement—under which the United States has agreed to suspend its attacks against Iran for two weeks—extends to “its allies” and constitutes an “immediate ceasefire across the entire territory, including Lebanon and other locations,” although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out that the pact covers Israeli operations within Lebanese territory.
