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Russia hopes Almaty talks would turn out win-win

Iran Materials 26 February 2013 01:16 (UTC +04:00)

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov who is his countryˈs representative at 5+1G nuclear talks with Iran expressed hope here Monday that February 26-27 Almaty talks would turn out to be a win-win round for both ends, IRNA reported.

According to IRNA, Russia's official Itar Tass news agency further quoted Ryabkov as saying that in order for any deal to take shape in this round of talks there is need to the existence of political will on both ends.

The Russian top negotiator added, 'The negotiating sides must reach agreement on balancing interests.'

The deputy Russian foreign minister reminded the entire negotiators in Almaty in advance that there is no more room for wasting time at all.

Meanwhile Russia's other top news network the RIA Novosti quoting an informed source within the Iranian negotiatorsˈ delegation in Almaty, reported Monday that the 5+1 Group's talks with Iran would begin at 10 am, Tuesday morning.

He added, 'Up to that time the negotiating delegations would be engaged in bilateral talks'.

According to this report, the said Iranian official did not refer to the bilateral talks that the Iranian top negotiator Saeed Jalili would have on the sidelines of the Almaty nuclear negotiations, sufficing to say that presently reaching agreements on such meetings is the point.

Ryabkov had also earlier said that the 5+1G is ready for constructive negotiations in Kazakhstan's capital city, Almaty, expressing hope that the Iranian side, too, would attend the negotiation table well prepared for constructive talks.

He added, 'During this round the shared grounds for finding solutions would be sought and repeating former stands would be avoided'.

The top Russian negotiator added, 'In Almaty we would put forth stands whose results would be similar to the former stands, but the way that the comprising parts of these stands are arranged strategically, and some parts of details of the 5+1G stands would differ with the former rounds of negotiations.'

He added, 'These moves are aimed at activating the potentials for change in the course of the negotiations, but all in all there would be no new proposals in this round of talks.'

He added, 'We must find a strategy for trust-building about the Iranian nuclear program, and this goal can be achieved thru various tactics in which consecutive steps of both sides and their flexibility are both needed and of great importance.'

Ryabkov expressed hope that the 5+1G proposals at Almaty negotiations would be interesting and attractive for the Iranian side, and noteworthy enough to incite counteraction so that progress would be achieved in the course of the negotiations.

As diplomats arrive in the Kazakh capital for the start of P5+1 negotiations with Iran, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also said that a breakthrough is possible if Tehran proves its nuclear program is peaceful.

The leading the Russian delegation negotiator in Almaty said in a separate interview with Voice of Russia that the success of the negotiations require "the political will" and the commitment necessary for the negotiations to "enter this stage."

The Russian diplomat expressed Moscow's growing frustration over the progress of the talks, which have produced few breakthroughs in a series of fits and starts.

"We are calling upon all participants to stop wasting any more time," the deputy foreign minister told reporters as negotiators prepare for their latest attempt at resolving the Iranian nuclear standoff.

"It is simply uncivilized when we make pauses of eight or 15 months," Ryabkov added.

Iran has been subject to international sanctions over baseless western allegations over its fully peaceful nuclear program. The UN nuclear watchdog wants full access to Iran's suspected nuclear sites in order to prove it is not conducting nuclear weapons research.

Tehran says its nuclear program is restricted to a civilian energy program.

The Russian diplomat also had some suggestions for the Iranians.

"We count upon Iran to arrive in Almaty better prepared from the point of... finding a real common platform, not the repetition of what everyone already knows," he emphasized.

Ryabkov admitted the negotiations will require a lot of give-and-takes on both sides of the table.

"The hard part is how to agree on the balance of interests," he acknowledged. "It is obvious that no one wants to disclose one's internal affairs for nothing."

They need to get something in exchange, Ryabkov said.

Although the Russian diplomat predicted there would be "no breakthrough; no joint decisions or sensational results as far as the settlement as a whole is concerned," he said that the negotiators may make enough progress to say that the Almaty round of talks was not "held in vain."

The negotiations in Almaty, scheduled for February 26-27, will include Iranian National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, who attended the June meeting in Moscow, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, French Foreign Ministry Director-General for Political and Security Affairs Jacques Audibert, British Foreign Office Political Director Simon Gass and German Foreign Ministry Envoy Hans-Dieter Lucas.

The latest round of negotiations between P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) was held in Moscow on June 18-19.

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