Ahmadinejad to meet Putin in Moscow

TEHRAN,June 26(MNA) --During his regular press briefing in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi commented on outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s planned visit to Moscow to attend the 2nd Gas Summit, saying, “He will have a meeting with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.” Araqchi added, “There are various issues of common concern between Iran and Russia in the context of bilateral cooperation, regional issues, the Syrian issue, Central Asia and Caucasus, and the Caspian Sea. And also consultations are underway with Russia about international issues, and negotiations between the two countries are constructive.” The 2nd Gas Summit in Moscow comes two years after the 1st Gas Summit in Doha. It affords Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) the opportunity to strengthen cooperation among the member countries within the organization in accordance with its statute; to promote debate and exchange of views at the highest level on the gas market and the gas industry, and to project GECF as a platform for dialogue in gas with consumers, according to the forum’s website. The agenda and declaration of the 2nd Gas summit will cover a number of issues including current developments of world gas markets; the situation of the gas industry in general and in the member countries in particular; the views of the member countries about their energy and gas policies and energy and gas policies of consumers, and the current status and future of GECF. The summit will take place at the Kremlin Palace Moscow. 20 percent enrichment still on the table Araqchi was also asked to comment on the recent remarks of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in which he said that Iran was prepared to halt its 20 percent uranium enrichment program. According to Haaretz, in an interview published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on June 18, Lavrov said that Iran had confirmed that it was ready to halt production of uranium enriched to 20 percent. He did not give details, but said world powers should make “substantial reciprocal steps.” Iran is in talks with the six major world powers, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany, which are known as the P5+1 group, to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, which Iran says is entirely peaceful but the West suspects may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “20 percent enrichment has been one of the subjects of negotiations between Iran and the 5+1, and that is nothing new. The issue will be one of the subjects of negotiations in the future as well.”