Almost no time left for reaching agreement with Iran — Russian diplomat

World October 06, 2014, 13:13

Iranian foreign minister is expected to meet with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton

MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. There's practically no time left for reaching agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Monday.

Ryabkov also said the new round of P5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear program will be held after several contacts of Iranian foreign minister.

“We hope that a concrete date and intensity of further work will become clear in 10-14 days,” he told TASS, noting that “Almost no time is left. To meet a deadline set until November 24 non-stop talks are needed.”

“We are keeping in contact with the EU foreign policy chief’s office, are waiting for specific signals and are stimulating partners to settle the issue as quickly as possible,” Ryabkov added.

The deputy foreign minister noted that the Iranian foreign minister is expected to meet with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, but “It is still unclear in which way this will be done.” “After this a full-format round of talks will be held with all delegations, including experts, meeting at one venue, but the work will be done within this round of talks in different ways,” he added, noting that “This depends from the need of the present moment. Quite probably the main load will be laid on participants in bilateral meetings, trilateral meetings take place, but they are not held without plenary meetings all the same.”

Therefore, all formats are envisaged, Ryabkov said, adding that “We are ready for work in any format.” “A round of talks will be the same, as these talks are traditionally held: Ashton, [Iranian Foreign Minister] Zarif and P5+1 political directors.

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