SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Putin voices 'deep concern' at Trump Iran move: Kremlin
Moscow, May 9 (AFP) May 09, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he was seriously concerned by US President Donald Trump's abandoning the Iran nuclear deal and said talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would discuss the "acute" situation.

Putin in comments to his national Security Council expressed "deep concern over such a decision and once more stressed the importance of this document," the Kremlin said, referring to the deal.

Putin later held talks with Netanyahu, who has backed Trump's decision on Iran, Israel's arch-foe.

Netanyahu before leaving Israel for the visit said that "the meetings between us are always important and this one is especially so".

The leaders' initial remarks, published in a transcript by the Kremlin, did not refer to the Iran nuclear deal directly.

Putin said the meeting would discuss "problems in the region," saying that "the situation unfortunately is very acute".

"I want to express a hope that we will manage not just to discuss but also to seek a solution that would lead to a shift in the situation," Putin said.

Netanyahu said they would "think together how we can act correctly in the region, how we can remove the threats that exist in the region in a responsible and reasonable way".

The two leaders earlier Wednesday watched a Red Square parade marking the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Netanyahu thanked Putin for referring to the Holocaust in his parade speech, likening the Nazi extermination campaign to Iran's attitude to Israel.

"It's hard to believe, but 73 years after the Holocaust, in our Middle East there is a country Iran that openly calls for the destruction of the state of Israel," he said in translated comments.

"But there is a difference between what was then and what is today: we have our own country," he added.

Russia's foreign ministry said late Tuesday it was "deeply disappointed" by Trump's announcement that the United States would pull out of the Iran deal, while Netanyahu strongly supported the US president's "bold" move.

Moscow and Tehran have close political and economic relations.

In the nuclear field, Russia has already built one reactor at Iran's Bushehr plant, the country's only nuclear power plant, and has started work on two new ones.

By contrast Netanyahu on Monday held a televised presentation of what he called "proof" of Iran's alleged past military nuclear ambitions.

Netanyahu and Putin have held a series of meetings and phone conversations in recent months, particularly related to the conflict in Syria where Israel has vowed to prevent Iran building a military presence.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Out of the string theory swampland
Where did cosmic rays come from? MSU astrophysicists are closer to finding out
Silicate clouds discovered in atmosphere of distant exoplanet

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Auto sector reels from China's rare earth restrictions
c-FIRST Team Sets Sights on Future Fire-observing Satellite Constellations
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Japan says two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific
NATO learns as Ukraine's 'creativity' changes battlefield
Rare earths: China's trump card in trade war with US

24/7 News Coverage
'No doubt' Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO
What is the high seas treaty?
World leaders urged to step up for overexploited oceans



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.