Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he believed Iran and major powers will "soon" reach a compromise in talks on Tehran's nuclear program.
"A compromise should be found," Putin said after hosting a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Urals city of Ufa, where he met with President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday.
"In my opinion, it will be found soon," he was quoted by AFP as saying.
Talks toward a nuclear deal dragged into a 15th day on Saturday, with Tehran accusing the West of backtracking and Washington saying it was prepared to walk away.
But Putin said he was hopeful that Iran and the P5+1 - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - would soon agree on guarantees for a successful resolution.
"Not only Iran and talks participants but all of the countries in the region including Arab countries… are interested in this," Putin said.
"We proceed from the fact that all sanctions against Iran should be lifted," he said, stressing that this should happen "as soon as possible."
"We believe this is not the way to solve international problems."
Iran has insisted that changes be made to the United Nations arms embargo and restrictions on missile sales be eased.
Putin forcefully denounced sanctions in general, as Russia reels from western punitive measures over the Ukraine crisis.
"We proceed from the fact that instruments such as sanctions should be completely removed from the international economic lexicon and communication."
"They should not be used in world economy because they turn it upside down."
Russia has been hit by western sanctions over Moscow's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, with Putin admitting that the measures had contributed to the country's economic turmoil.
Putin conceded that the scrapping of sanctions would likely see Iran ramp up oil output but said the global economy would adjust.
"We are absolutely ready for this," he said.
