Press Conference with President Putin After Meeting with France, Germany and Spain (Excerpts)

March 22, 2005

Weapon Program: 

  • Nuclear

Related Country: 

  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain

Unofficial translation from Russian

. . .

QUESTION: My question is for Mr Putin and perhaps also for Mr Schroeder or Mr Chirac. It concerns the Iranian nuclear issue. Now that the European troika has had some success in negotiations with Iran and has managed to reduce the pressure on Iran from the United States, and now that Russia has signed an agreement with Iran on returning spent nuclear fuel, what other issues are still to be settled regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, and to what extent is there a correlation in these two policies towards Iran, from the European Union troika on the one hand, and Russia on the other?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: We have a high level of understanding with our European partners on the Iranian issue. There is no contradiction in our positions. We all share the same fundamental principle, and that is the principle of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. All the actions we take regarding the Iranian nuclear issue are based on this principle and we are working together to find solutions that will not infringe on Iran's interests in its plans to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Are there any other problems? Problems could arise in only one area and that is Iran's continued commitment to making all its nuclear programs open and transparent to the IAEA and showing that it is committed to not acquiring nuclear weapons. There are no other limitations.

We have indeed signed what for us is a very important agreement with Iran on the return of nuclear fuel. In accordance with the agreements reached, we will fulfil our obligations on a bilateral basis and will also monitor closely Iran's cooperation with the international nuclear technology control authorities.

. . .