Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with his French counterpart to discuss a way out of the stalemate over the Iran nuclear deal and endorsed his initiatives, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday, according to Sputnik.
French President Emmanuel Macron suggested earlier this month either softening sanctions on Iran or creating a compensation system to improve the living conditions of Iranians.
"As regards the initiatives of the French leadership on overcoming the crisis around the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program, President Putin and President Macron had a detailed discussion in Bregancon a week ago... President Putin backed President Macron's proposal aimed at reviving the JCPOA and all agreements stipulated by it," Lavrov told reporters after talks with the Indian foreign minister on Wednesday.
The Russian diplomat refrained from commenting on specific steps but noted that they were likely to succeed if accepted by all parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, including Tehran itself.
"We will be ready to assist in achieving such results," Lavrov added.
The French president hoped on Monday during G7 summit that there would be a meeting between Iranian president and Donald Trump, while President Rouhani yesterday announced he would not hold any negotiations unless the US lifts all illegal sanctions and returns to its commitments under the JCPOA.
On May 8, the anniversary of the US illegal withdrawal from the nuclear deal (JCPOA), Iran announced that it was partially discontinuing its obligations under the JCPOA and urged nuclear deal remaining signatories – China, the European Union, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom – to shield Tehran from Washington's sanctions.
As a first step, Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to a level above the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA.
In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA-limit of 3.76 percent and it has announced that it may increase the level of uranium enrichment to pre-JCPOA era to 20% as the third step to reduce its JCPOA-related commitments.
KI/PR