Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are reportedly going to meet prior to the nuclear talks with the G5+1 in Moscow.
Yuri Ushakov, a Putin advisor on foreign policy, told reporters that the meeting between Putin and his Iranian counterpart will allow the Russian president to “feel the heat surrounding the Iranian problem and see how this issue is perceived in Tehran.”
Ushakov added that Russia was not happy with the outcome of the last round of talks between the world powers and Iran and it wishes to “determine the mutual readiness to continue the discussion.”
AFP reports that the two presidents will meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to be held on June 6 and 7 in Beijing.
The SCO is a regional security organization that was founded in 2001 by the leaders of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia are observing members of the SCO.
In the past year, Russia has often criticized the unilateral sanctions against Iran by the U.S. and the EU, saying that their real target is in fact a regime change and not Iran’s nuclear activities.
