President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia appreciated efforts by Europe to save the Iran nuclear deal despite the withdrawal of the United States and warned of “lamentable consequences” if it was not preserved.
Putin made the comment in a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, offering some support for the French leader’s plan for negotiating a broader agreement with Tehran to cover Iran’s ballistics program and its activities in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
“I was personally assured that Iran is fulfilling all its obligations, so the question arises what grounds there were to exit this agreement,” Putin said. “We welcome the efforts of Iran and Europe to preserve this deal, while understanding that it will be hard.”
“Russia has never approved unilateral actions,” he added, referring to the renewed US sanctions against Iran. “Any action against a sovereign government can be taken only by United Nations Security Council, all the rest are illegitimate.”
“Certainly we can discuss Iran’s ballistic missiles. We can discuss Iran’s policies in the Middle East and its nuclear activities after 2025,” Putin said.
“But we cannot make preserving the Iranian nuclear deal dependent on these three parameters because if we do, it means that we too are withdrawing from the accord because the deal that exists foresees no additional conditions.”
Macron met Putin seeking to win concessions on Syria, Iran and Ukraine after returning largely empty-handed from a state visit to the United States.
Multilateral Approach to Int’l Relations
In rhetoric that seemed taken from Putin's own arguments against US hegemony, Macron also called for a “multilateral approach to international relations” and said he would “not force my choice on other countries”.
Macron said the nuclear agreement with Iran should be preserved, and the Islamic Republic should honor its commitments under the deal.
"As we have already mentioned during the EU-Western Balkans summit, we need to achieve a situation in which Iran strictly fulfills its obligations under the nuclear agreement and honors its obligations," he said.
The French leader said that "pragmatic agreements" are needed, under which French companies "keep their economic profit, despite the US sanctions, and maintain their economic presence in Iran."
A Macron adviser hailed Putin’s comments as a “key” point of convergence between Paris and Moscow as the US President Donald Trump administration urges its European allies to sever economic ties with Iran.
China, Germany Standing by Deal
In comments likely to frustrate the White House, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany and China will stand by the existing nuclear accord with Iran, even as the US has withdrawn and expects its European allies to follow suit, CNN reported.
Merkel made the statement during a joint news conference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.
Her remarks come hours after Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, issued a set of demands to European powers in which he voiced skepticism that they would remain committed to the 2015 deal. He also warned that Iran would restart its nuclear activities if they failed to act swiftly.
Along with Merkel, the leaders of Europe and the European Union have said they intend to stick to the deal, while leaders in Russia and Turkey criticized the US decision. Votes of support are few, and have so far come only from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
