Isolated’ Vladimir Putin is set to travel to Iran in a bid to shore up post-invasion Ukraine. The Russian president will visit Tehran next Tuesday to attend a meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the Kremlin said. Western sources said on Tuesday that Putin had been “increasingly isolated” by the war in Ukraine and was desperate to build global allies. Iran in recent weeks has been forced to cut the price of its crude oil to compete with Moscow’s steep discounts to China. Western sources suggested it was in Mr Putin’s interest to keep oil prices “very high” and this could form a basis for talks while he is in Tehran.
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They added that “Putin will be prepared to continue” his destructive invasion “despite the enormous cost to Russia and Ukraine.” The trip comes after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that Iran could supply Russia with hundreds of surveillance drones, including weapons-capable ones. Mr Sullivan added that intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use the drones. It comes as Mr Putin has been accused of targeting Russia’s poorest regions to recruit soldiers for his battered army, amid speculation he could even use prisoners to fight in Ukraine. The Russian leader’s “private army” is struggling to replace dead or wounded troops, British defense chiefs said on Tuesday. They believe at least 20,000 of the Russian president’s military personnel have died since he launched his invasion on February 24. Three to four times as many Russian soldiers are estimated to be wounded or incapacitated, with Ukrainian forces also suffering heavy casualties. To cover the troop shortfall, Mr Putin has raised the maximum conscription age and is “trying to expand the pool in all sorts of different ways to avoid a widespread call to arms”, Western sources said. They added: “What they have done is focus on active recruitment, particularly in the poorer areas. They stayed away from the big cities.”
