GENEVA, January 10. / TASS /. The Vienna talks to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are facilitating and the chances for reaching a solution have increased, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated on Monday after the Russian-US talks.

"The Vienna talks have speeded up. We believe that the chances to reach a solution within the framework that had been developed during the previous rounds, including six rounds held until June 20, have increased. This is a positive thing. All parties are demonstrating readiness to solve the remaining problems," the deputy foreign minister noted.

Ryabkov also mentioned that "various schemes were possible" for reaching the ultimate goal, the restoration of the Iranian nuclear deal in its original form. "<…> A step-by-step approach based on reciprocity [is likely to be used] to achieve the main goal," the senior diplomat pointed out.

"I would like to emphasize that possible intermediate steps are not going to replace, substitute the basic agreement, which needs to be fully restored. The Russian side proceeds from this, while providing political and diplomatic assistance to <…> Iranians, Americans and Europeans," Ryabkov stated. As the diplomat said, he also sees no need for setting any deadlines for reaching a final decision on the Iranian nuclear deal.

On January 3, the eighth round of the Vienna talks, aiming to restore the JCPOA in its original form and return the US to this multilateral agreement, resumed after the New Year’s break. Following the meeting of the Joint Commission and the P5 countries (Russia, the UK, Germany, China and France), the sides agreed to facilitate the work on the draft treaty and complete it by early February 2022.