Financial Times:

Vladimir Putin has pledged cautious Russian support for a French initiative to seek additional agreements with Iran aimed at convincing the US to return to the nuclear deal with Tehran it abandoned this month.

“I agree that we can talk about Iran’s missile programme as well as about the situation in the region and about its nuclear activities beyond 2025,” Mr Putin said in his native St Petersburg on Thursday night after more than three hours of talks with Emmanuel Macron, the French president.

However, the Russian president reiterated Moscow’s firm opposition to making such additional accords a condition for the survival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

By keeping the door open to Mr Macron’s plan, Mr Putin has placed himself in the centre of diplomatic action on an issue that is key to regional security and global non-proliferation, a move that could help him counter international isolation in the face of western sanctions.

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