News - World: Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says his visit to Russia will focus on efforts to facilitate a resolution of the Ukraine conflict.

“The main purpose of the trip to Moscow is to try to resolve the Ukraine crisis based on a request made to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday, when he left Tehran for Moscow at the head of a high-ranking political delegation.

“Some Western parties want Tehran to play an active role in this regard,” he added.

The top Iranian diplomat also said following up on Tehran-Moscow ties as well as the issue of Afghanistan were on the agenda of the visit.

During his stay, the Iranian foreign minister will meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

In a meeting in the Iranian capital last month, the two top diplomats discussed the latest status of the Vienna talks on the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions, among other issues.

Iran has previously underlined the need for a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, saying the Islamic Republic continues to enhance consultations between Russia and the former Soviet state to achieve the goal.

Russia has been engaged in a military operation in Ukraine since February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Since the onset of the operation, the United States and its European allies have supplied billions of dollars worth of weaponry to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, despite Russia’s repeated warnings that it will only prolong the war.

Source: Press TV