Russia's Lavrov says 'all elements in place' for Iran agreement

MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference after a meeting with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Saud al-Faisal in Moscow, November 21, 2014. REUTERS Photo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Nov. 21 that "all the elements" were in place to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme, calling for a compromise at the Vienna talks.
      
"All the elements of an agreement are already on the table and the task of diplomats now is to correctly put together a package," Lavrov told journalists in Moscow after discussing the talks with visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.        

Lavrov called for the negotiators in Vienna to "show political will" for a balanced outcome that "is not subjected to attempts at the last minute to haggle something beyond what is realistic".
      
"I am proceeding from the assumption that in the end common sense and the aim to reach a compromise on this long-standing problem will after all prevail," Lavrov said.
      
Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a telephone conversation in which they both "emphasised it is necessary to make extra efforts in order to reach concrete agreements within the time limit agreed earlier," the Russian ministry said in a subsequent statement. The Vienna talks are meant to result in a lasting deal by Monday deadline.
     
Kerry and Lavrov said a ministerial meeting of the countries involved in the Iran talks could take place in the next few days, the Russian foreign ministry added in the same statement.
      

"The two sides did not rule out holding a ministerial meeting of the participants in the Iran nuclear programme talks if there is a propect of progress in this direction," the ministry said.