Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shake hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Alexandr Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via APRussian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shake hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The regional agreement with Iran would replace and expand an interim pact that already provides a reduction in customs duties on hundreds of categories of goods

Russia hopes to sign a free trade zone agreement with Iran and several more countries by the end of the year, an official said on Monday. 

According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, talks between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, are in the final stages. 

"We are moving forward," Overchuk told Russia’s state TASS news agency. "We very much hope that such an agreement can be signed by the end of the year."

He added that negotiations among the Eurasian Economic Union countries on creating a common gas market continue. In November 2022, Russia started trading oil products with Iran with Tehran saying in March that it counts on "huge volumes" of both oil and gas swaps with Moscow.

The regional agreement with Iran would replace and expand an interim pact that already provides a reduction in customs duties on hundreds of categories of goods, according to Reuters. The two countries grew increasingly closer amid Western sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, Russian-Iranian commodity turnover rose 20 percent.

magnifier linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram