Russia’s military cooperation with Iran will not bow to geopolitical pressure, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said after a report that Washington has asked Tehran to stop selling drones to Moscow.

“There is no change and cooperation with Iran will continue,” Ryabkov said, according to a Saturday report by Russian state news agency RIA. “We are independent states and do not bow to the orders of the United States and its satellites.”

The Financial Times reported this month, citing an Iranian official and another person familiar with the talks, that the US is pressing Iran to stop selling armed drones that Russia is using in the war in Ukraine.

Iran has acknowledged sending the drones to Russia but previously said they were sent before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has denied that its military has used Iranian drones in Ukraine.

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Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman Reza Talai-Nik said: “None of our transactions (regarding drones) with other countries such as Russia have been cancelled,” Iranian state media reported on Saturday.

Talai-Nik also said that several unnamed “Western and European countries” were interested in acquiring Iranian drones.

Russia began using Iran-made Shaheed drones for strikes inside Ukraine last year. So-called kamikaze unmanned drones do not require a runway to launch and explode on impact.

A White House official said in June that Iran has transferred several hundred drones to Russia since August 2022.