Russian President Vladimir Putin may discuss with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian the issue of Tehran's possible withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) during the upcoming summits of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Caspian Environmental Forum in Turkmenistan, TASS reported, BTA reports.
Earlier, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Nikzad, stated that the legislative body would consider a proposal for the Islamic Republic to withdraw from the NPT.
“If the Iranian side considers it necessary to inform us about this and if these plans are really in the process of being implemented, then, of course, the topic will be raised“, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
However, he specified that it is necessary to assess how high the issue is on the agenda, since “the topic was raised by parliamentarians“. According to Peskov, such statements “do not always… fully correspond to the real plans for the foreign policy activity“ of the respective country.
Putin is leaving today for a two-day working visit to Turkmenistan, where he will participate in two high-level meetings – of the CIS and the Caspian Environmental Forum, Interfax news agency notes.
The CIS summit will be attended by the heads of state of all other member states. Among them are the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, the President of Kazakhstan Kassam-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Armenia will be represented by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
„For the first time in the history of the CIS, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian has been invited to attend the summit in an expanded format, who will then also take part in the Caspian Environmental Summit“, Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov told journalists earlier.
Peskov also said today that Putin will talk with all participants in the CIS summit.