NEW YORK, July 15. /TASS/. The group of international mediators would not have achieved an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program had it not been for Russia’s willingness to insist on a strong deal, US President Barack Obama told The New York Times on Wednesday.

"Russia was a help on this. I’ll be honest with you. I was not sure given the strong differences we are having with Russia right now around Ukraine, whether this would sustain itself," Obama said.

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Russian government compartmentalized on this in a way that surprised me, and we would have not achieved this agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness to stick with us and the other P5-plus members in insisting on a strong deal," the US president added.

On July 14, Iran and P5+1 group (US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) reached a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program which envisages guaranteeing the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear dossier in exchange for gradual removal of sanctions.