. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for intensifying political and diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reports Al Jazeera.

“Both sides emphasised the need for a rapid cessation of hostilities and the intensification of political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a long-term settlement of the conflict,” the Kremlin said in a read-out of the call.

The call comes after Ukraine ” fending off Russia’s full-scale assault since 2022 ” signed an air defence deal with Saudi Arabia as the Gulf nation grapples with Iranian drone attacks.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations which are being attacked with the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its relatively cheap drone interceptors for the expensive air-defence missiles that the Gulf is using to down Iranian drones.

Putin and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince also stressed that “problems with energy production and transportation resulting from the crisis are negatively impacting global energy security.”