VIENNA. July 1 (Interfax) - Progress exists at talks on the Iranian nuclear program, not technical but procedural issues remain unresolved, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"The situation at the negotiations advances in the right direction. Mostly not technical but procedural issues - related among other things to executing the agreement and submitting it to the UN Security Council - remain," Lavrov said in Vienna on Tuesday following talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The issue of talks on the Iranian nuclear program was not the main topic of the conversation with Kerry but it was discussed, Lavrov said.
The lifting of Western sanctions from Iran is not a topic of multilateral negotiations, the Russian minister said. "Iran and the European Union, Iran and the United States are discussing issues related to the lifting of sanctions in case agreement is reached on the nuclear program," he said.
This concerns the sanctions, which were introduced unilaterally by the U.S. and EU, Lavrov said.