Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program at a summit in Geneva, Moscow expects a full return to the agreement, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Thursday.
Peskov confirmed that the Iranian issue was touched upon in the conversation between the leaders in a narrow format. "There are certain outlines," the Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on the similarities and divergences in the assessments of the situation in Moscow and Washington. - "The main thing is that to a comprehensive plan [everything] can also come back, everything can go back to normal. There is a certain dynamic. We are hoping that we will be able to extricate the situation from its current state".
Talks between Iran and the international "five" (Russia, Britain, Germany, China and France) are being held in Vienna since April with the goal of restoring the Iranian nuclear agreement to its original form. Experts in three working groups are working on the text of an agreement to resume the JCPOA: the lifting of US sanctions against Iran (and the further return of Washington to the deal) and the implementation of nuclear commitments by Tehran, from which it significantly deviates.
Representatives of the JCPOA states are also holding separate consultations with the US delegation, which withdrew from the agreement in 2018 but is now considering returning to it. No direct talks have yet taken place between US emissaries and Iranian representatives in Vienna.
Discussions on Syria and Afghanistan
The Kremlin spokesman also pointed out that the Russian and US military dialogue in Syria is very important and should be maintained.
"On Syria [there was] a statement that even despite the very difficult period in our bilateral relations, our military has been and still is able to maintain a dialogue there," Peskov explained.
According to his assessment, this is "a very important dialogue in terms of deconfliction." "It should be maintained further in the interests of just usual security, that is, from the point of view of the fact that the military of two countries are in the same place," he said.
At the same time, the head of state's press secretary declined to disclose other details of the conversation on the subject. "Look, do you want me to retell you the whole conversation? - he joked. - "That's what presidential talks are for, to be non-public."
Peskov said the summit touched on the situation in Afghanistan, but did not specify details of the talks either.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS