Dispute Over Nuclear Deal Should Be Settled

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the international deal on Iran’s nuclear program, from which US President Donald Trump has withdrawn, is an area that needs US-Russian dialogue. “It’s a subject for debate and negotiations. How can you have these if they don’t exist? There are some things you can’t do over the phone,” Reuters quoted him as telling reporters in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was attending a summit of BRICS nations.  He said he had invited Trump to Moscow and that both he and the US president want further summits, despite the uproar in Washington after the two leaders met in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16.   “We need for the appropriate conditions to exist, to be created, including in our countries,” Putin said, adding that efforts to resolve conflicts in the Middle East need to be discussed as well.  “Will we talk about these issues at the highest political level, or do we think it’s a secondary issue? I don’t think so—it’s not a secondary issue.”