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QUESTION: Mr Medvedev, do you agree to toughen sanctions against Iran because, as you know, the Security Council is now talking about tightening sanctions?

Mr Sarkozy, do you agree with Mr Medvedev? Do you have a common point of view?

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DMITRY MEDVEDEV: First, regarding Iran, a difficult topic. Now almost all my talks with European and American colleagues lead at some point to Iran. Unfortunately, we have not moved forward lately and, on the contrary, the situation is deteriorating.

Unfortunately, our remonstrances of the Iranian leadership, our appeals to work towards a peaceful nuclear programme under the supervision of the international community have not yielded results.

We are optimists and we have not lost our belief in the possibility of success. However, if this fails, I have already said repeatedly that Russia is ready to consider sanctions together with our partners. These sanctions should be targeted and intelligent. They must not be directed against the civilian population. And they must only be implemented in extreme circumstances, the point at which dialogue is no longer possible. So the relevant initiatives are currently being discussed. We are ready to continue the discussion with our partners.

This is true even though it would naturally be desirable to avoid these sanctions.

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NICOLAS SARKOZY: With regard to the Middle East and Iran, Mr Medvedev spoke about smart and well-considered sanctions. I completely agree with him. We have very close positions and this is very important.

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