Time has come for responsible decisions on Iran nuclear deal: Russia

MOSCOW

The time has come for responsible decisions for the restoration of the Iran nuclear deal, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

Russia proposed a “simple and understandable model” for all sides to resume fulfilling their obligations, but the US and EU “abruptly slowed down” at the finish line and “switched to shaking up Iran’s internal political situation,” Lavrov told Russian state-run news agency RIA.

“It was all worked out to the smallest detail,” he said, emphasizing that the plan can be implemented “if there is political will.”

Time has proven that the 2015 nuclear agreement has no reasonable alternative, said Lavrov, denouncing “irresponsible” speculations about a “Plan B” and other “unacceptable options.”

Any such deviation could lead to “escalation, an arms race, an open conflict with irreversible consequences,” he warned.

Turning to efforts for a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said Russia is only providing as much assistance in the process as demanded by the two countries.

Asked whether Moscow plans to suspend its participation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Lavrov acknowledged that “things are not going well” in the regional bloc.

“The West views the OSCE as a tool for promoting its collective interests, turning it into an arena for propaganda battles,” he said.

He said Poland’s chairmanship of the bloc has been “openly anti-Russian” and only succeeded in reducing the “effectiveness of the OSCE’s work to zero.”

If we are to cooperate, it has to be in a new manner as the previous approach no longer works, he added.

On the Ukraine war, Lavrov said the several rounds of talks held so far have shown that a mutually acceptable compromise is possible.

Kyiv, however, is not ready for dialogue, he reiterated.

He said Moscow too does not want talks as long as Ukraine keeps insisting on withdrawal of Russian troops, or demanding war reparations or confessions.

“Of course, we will not talk to anyone on such terms,” he asserted.

Lavrov said there is a dearth of Ukrainian politicians suitable for talks due to “the Kyiv regime’s … widespread practice of suppressing dissent and arbitrary reprisals against dissenters.”

“Could some sane political figure appear in Kyiv later? We’ll wait and see,” he added.​​​​​​​