ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin made the following comments at a plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. Putin spoke in Russian.

President Vladimir Putin says he has secured Israel’s pledge to safeguard Russian personnel at Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant and that he has reached out to both sides to try to end the week-old war.

China and Russia positioning themselves as voices of reason, calling for de-escalation of a conflict the United States is contemplating on entering — these are the optics Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin sought to project during a phone call on Thursday.