France and Russia hold phone talks but disagree on Iran nuclear deal
The French President called the Russian President to inform and persuade Russia to accept negotiating a new nuclear deal with Iran but was unsuccessful.
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Daily Express |
French press reported that the phone call between President Emmanuel Macron of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia took place late on April 30 while Mr. Macron was on a plane flying to an official visit to Australia.
The content of the phone call was that Mr. Macron informed Mr. Putin about the discussions between Mr. Macron and US President Donald Trump on the Iranian nuclear issue, during Mr. Macron's visit to the US earlier last week.
However, press releases from the French and Russian governments show that the two sides are having major disagreements on this issue. Specifically, according to Russia, “the two Presidents of Russia and France declared their support for maintaining and thoroughly applying the 2015 nuclear agreement.”
Meanwhile, the French side affirmed that although Presidents Macron and Putin agreed to maintain the 2015 agreement, the French side emphasized that "France wishes to open negotiations with Russia and members of the United Nations Security Council on controlling Iran's nuclear program after 2025."
The French side also said that this was a proposal that Mr. Macron had made to US President Donald Trump to keep the US from completely withdrawing from the nuclear agreement that the P5+1 group signed with Iran in 2015. However, the Russian government in recent days has always affirmed that there will be no "any alternative solution" to the 2015 agreement.
Iran, the central country of the agreement and also a close ally of Russia, also said it opposes any renegotiation of the 2015 agreement and is ready to retaliate against the US and the West if its interests are damaged./.
