Russia hopes US will be ‘realistic’ in its upcoming negotiations with Iran

• Top diplomat offers that Russia can provide energy resources to countries in need, including China, amid situation in Middle East

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow hopes the US will be “realistic” in its upcoming negotiations with Iran, as talks between the two countries failed in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad over the weekend.

"I sincerely hope that those directly involved in the negotiations, the American side in this case, will be realistic and consider the interests of the entire region and will not continue this unprovoked aggression," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian media outlets, including state news agency Tass, during a press conference in Beijing before wrapping up his two-day visit to China.

Expressing that the Gulf countries are the “most vulnerable” due to the US-Israeli offensive on Iran, Lavrov said Moscow is not “indifferent to the impact of such adventures on their economies, their well-being, and the well-being of their populations.”

Talks were held in Islamabad over the weekend to permanently end the US-Israeli offensive on Iran that began on Feb. 28, but an agreement could not be reached. Efforts to hold another round of talks are underway.

US President Donald Trump struck an upbeat tone on the prospects for the resumption of direct US-Iranian talks, saying on Tuesday that they could restart in Pakistan within the next two days.

“We and China firmly support the continuation of these negotiations, ensuring that the parties advance realistic and fair goals, fully respecting each other's legitimate rights under international law,” Lavrov said, concerning US-Iranian talks held Saturday and Sunday.

He also expressed Russia's willingness to support various forms of external support for these negotiations, alongside China.

Lavrov went on to describe the developments in the Middle East as "clearly a crisis that will be very difficult to unravel."

“Trying to simply cut it now, I believe, is unlikely to achieve any results. But Palestine — both Gaza and the West Bank — must not remain in the shadows or be relegated to the background. We made this very clear with the Chinese delegation today,” he said.

Lavrov arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day visit, during which he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Wang Yi.

Speaking about Iran’s nuclear program, Lavrov reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to contribute to resolving the issue of Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles and that this role could take a variety of forms, including the reprocessing of fuel-grade highly enriched uranium and the transfer of a certain amount to Russia for storage.

“No matter how the Islamic Republic itself exercises this right during the negotiations — whether it takes a pause or insists on preserving this right — any approach based on this principle, on the principle of the universality of the right to enrichment, will be accepted by the Russian side,” the top Russian diplomat said.

Referring to Trump's previous threat to destroy the whole Iranian civilization, Lavrov went on to say that he "does not understand" how anyone could believe in this line of thought.

He added: "Such a goal in itself cannot evoke either respect from the point of view of a universal human approach or respect from the point of view of someone's conviction in its feasibility."

The foreign minister went on to say that Russia can provide energy resources to countries in need due to the Middle East situation, including China, and that they are "interested in working with us on an equal and mutually beneficial basis."