Deputy FM Ryabkov: Foundation of Iran-Sextet deal unlikely to be formed by ministerial week's end
NEW YORK CITY, UN. Sept 25 (Interfax) - Progress in the New York negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group has been too slow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.
"We are still witnessing the situation, which has been going on since last Thursday, i.e. slow, or I would rather say, too slow progress," the diplomat stated.
It was planned at the start "to form the foundation of the prospective agreement and to roughly formalize solutions on which the final text could be based in a later period" by the end of the ministerial week of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, he said.
"But it is already Wednesday and I am not sure this can happen although great efforts are being taken and the intensity of contacts taking place here seems to be higher than it was in Vienna," Ryabkov said.
The sides are working non-stop, at every level and even simultaneously in different formats, the deputy minister stressed.
"Clearly, this puts a certain load on delegates because, actually, all the negotiating parties of all countries must know everything happening in regard to this issue everywhere. But it is impossible to gather everyone at every event, because political directors have their meetings, experts have theirs, there are collective coordination sittings and there are bilateral meetings as well," Ryabkov said.
"Unfortunately, in spite of the rapid pace and the absolute clarity of the nature of issues that need to be resolved, there is no solution as of yet. Still, we carry on the work and there will be more meetings tomorrow and also today," the diplomat said.