Putin Suggests Trump North Korea Model for U.S.-Iran Talks

Oct. 3, 2019 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin praised President Donald Trump’s initiative to open direct relations with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un, as also the right approach for dealing with the nuclear issue with Iran.

Moderator Keir Simmons at yesterday’s plenary session of the Russian Energy Week 2019 International Forum asked whether Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani would be prepared to meet with President Donald Trump, since Putin and Rouhani met on Oct. 1. Putin replied:

“You had better ask President Rouhani and President Trump. Our position is that dialogue is always better than confrontation. This was graphically illustrated by a firm, well-considered, entirely pragmatic and correct decision taken by President Trump in a meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A more or less marked end to the tensions followed immediately. They have a long way to go before resolving these issues, which we are well aware of, but still this is a move in the right direction. The same can be said of direct contacts between Iran and the United States and between the Iranian President and the U.S. President.

“As far as I know, a similar attempt was made by France at the UN General Assembly in New York. Unfortunately, there was no meeting, because Iran believes it cannot engage in this dialogue as it is not on an equal footing, given the sanctions imposed on it. It seems to me that Iran definitely wants to bring the situation back to normal, including normalizing its relations with the United States,”

the Russian President concluded.