Russian President Vladimir Putin made the following comments at a plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

Russia is attempting to navigate the Israel-Iran war from a position of limited influence, urging de-escalation while quietly seeing some strategic benefits. -The conflict has raised oil prices, a boon for Russia’s economy,

“If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday. “If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly.”