MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax) - Moscow respects Tehran's decision against holding direct talks with Washington and the refusal to accept the proposal on the phased lifting of sanctions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"We take with respect this decision of the Iranian side. It is no secret that Russia supported the idea of holding an informal contact of all JCPOA parties and the U.S. which was forwarded several weeks ago by the European foreign policy service, but since Tehran has decided otherwise, we will work in the format of indirect talks, on which everyone, including the United States, has agreed," Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow in reply to a question from Interfax on Monday.
"It's not making the mission easier but at the end of the day, one should realize that what has to be done isn't reinventing the wheel. There is nothing new. Essentially, it's coming back to what existed since 2015," Ryabkov said.