ZDF Television Interview with President Vladimir Putin (Excerpts)

July 13, 2006

Weapon Program: 

  • Nuclear

Related Country: 

  • Iran

. . .

QUESTION: Will you support [President Bush] concerning the resolution against Iran?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: We consider that we have developed a good unified mechanism to work on very delicate issues on the international agenda, including on the Iranian nuclear dossier. And let me remind you that the mechanism consists of six countries, including the United States, Russia and the Federal Republic of Germany, who have developed a common position and gave our Iranian partners our proposals. As you know, they reacted positively. They declared that they are ready to begin negotiations on this basis.

We believe that we must not lead this situation into a dead end and aggravate it. Of course we would like Iran's reaction to be faster. But we have negative examples of what happens when we hurry to make a decision on such sensitive and delicates issues. And also in this region we have situations from which no one knows how to get out, situations developing like, for example, the one in Iraq. For that reason we do not need to rush the issue. Resolving such large-scale issues does not need to be rushed. And no one should have any doubts that we are going to work together and search together for a solution to these problems (both the North Korean one and the Iranian one).

We have one goal and it is to provide international security in a long-term perspective. Incidentally, this is a significant and fundamental change from how things were during the Cold War. But we have a different way of searching for methods to resolve our problems. But as a rule it is in arguments, in an open and frank dialogue between partners that we will achieve the best results. I hope that this will also be the case here.

. . .