EU foreign chief hopes Moscow will support West on Iran
(MOSCOW) - The EU foreign affairs chief said Wednesday Russia recognised the gravity of the Iranian nuclear crisis and expressed hope the West could rely on Moscow if it chose to slap sanctions on Tehran.
"There is a recognition (from the Russian side) that this issue is extremely serious and we are all concerned to address it in the most effective way," Catherine Ashton told reporters a briefing in Moscow.
"The (UN) Security Council is the place to go next on this," she said after meetings with Russian officials, including President Dmitry Medvedev.
"Our approach is through the UN Security Council where we hope... we have Russian support for that process," she added.
A veto-wielding Security Council member, Russia has long said it favours peaceful resolution but signs have emerged over the past weeks that the Kremlin is finally losing patience with the Islamic Republic over its defiance in the nuclear crisis.
Moscow however has said it is against "crippling sanctions" on Iran.
Earlier Wednesday, Medvedev said Russia and the European Union should deepen ties as he met Ashton on her first visit to the country.
"The president singled out partnership for modernisation as a key dimension of our cooperation," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after the meeting with Ashton at the Kremlin.
Lavrov indicated Russia wanted to focus on "concrete, practically significant" areas of cooperation such as economics, social sphere, education, technology, innovation and governance, among others.
"I believe the first contours of the future partnership have already taken shape," he said.
Ties between Russia and the EU have been strained for some time now and the two sides have yet to sign a new partnership and cooperation agreement that expired in 2007.
Ashton, who became the bloc's foreign affairs chief late last year, was on her first trip to Russia in her current capacity.
That she visited Moscow so early in her tenure highlighted the "significance of this strategic partnership" between the EU and Russia, Ashton told reporters.
The Russian and EU leaders will meet for a regular summit in Russia's southern city of Rostov-on-Don on May 31-June 1, Lavrov said.
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