“We are working with our partners to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue and we are very close to achieving a resolution,” Putin said in an annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
The Russian president also welcomed the flexibility of Iran's leadership regarding the nuclear program negotiations between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), Russian Sputnik news agency reported.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin announced that he may soon be visiting the Iranian capital, Tehran, and the possible visit is being arranged through diplomatic channels.
Putin’s remarks came as Iran and world powers decided on November 24 to extend for 7 months a self-imposed deadline for signing a comprehensive agreement on Tehran’s civilian nuclear work.
They resumed their talks in Geneva on Wednesday, December 17, at deputy level.
Earlier on Thursday, a Russian source told the Tasnim News Agency that the Swiss city of Geneva will host the next round of nuclear negotiations before January 20, 2015.
Negotiations between Iran and the sextet aim to hammer out a final agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.