Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin told Iran's president over the phone on Friday that Moscow condemned Israeli actions against Tehran, and in a separate telephone conversation told Israel's prime minister that only diplomacy could resolve issues around Iran's nuclear programme.

Russia on Sunday handed Ukraine another 1,200 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war, Russian state news agencies reported on Sunday, saying Moscow had not received a single Russian corpse in return.

Ukraine has received 1,200 bodies of its soldiers killed in the war with Russia, Ukrainian officials responsible for exchanging prisoners of war said on Saturday. The prisoner exchange coordination committee said in a statement on the Telegram that the return of the bodies was part of the agreements reached by Ukraine and Russia during their talks in Istanbul earlier this month.

Ukraine on Sunday said it had received another transfer of 1,200 bodies from Russia, as part of an exchange agreement struck in Istanbul earlier this month. “Another 1,200 bodies, which the Russian side claims belong to Ukrainian citizens,