Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday to travel to Moscow for talks, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
The invitation followed a meeting between Putin and Ahmadinejad, who is fighting calls from Western powers to stop nuclear work that Washington says is aimed at building atomic bombs. Tehran says its intentions are peaceful. "Ahmadinejad accepted the invitation with gratitude. The parties agreed to clear the dates for the visit through diplomatic channels," Interfax quoted the two leaders as saying in a joint statement.
Putin also agreed to bring Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant into operation on schedule following talks in Tehran. "The Bushehr nuclear power plant will be constructed and brought into operation in line with the agreed upon schedule," the statement said. "The parties... reaffirmed that it will continue to be pursued strictly in line with their commitments under the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons." |