BUDAPEST, February 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, currently on an official visit to Hungary, said Tuesday he was optimistic about the Russian-Iranian deal to enrich uranium. "We are optimistic and believe that we can come to an agreement with Iranian negotiators on Iran's return to the additional protocol, on its ratification," Putin said. "We can agree on the formation of a joint venture in the Russian Federation to enrich uranium for the purposes of the Iranian nuclear energy sector."
"If we manage to persuade our Iranian partners that the implementation of these plans conforms to the interests of Iran and the international community as a whole, we will be happy because we will have contributed to the settlement of this problem."
Putin said that no country had the right to impose limits on Iran's advancement of its nuclear energy sector, and that the relevant infrastructure should be created for this purpose. Russia is currently building an $800-million nuclear power plant near the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr.
Moscow's offer to enrich uranium for Iran, which is backed by the United States and the European Union, is seen as a potential compromise in the crisis standoff over the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic, which some countries suspect of pursuing a covert weapons program.
Tehran has said it will not tolerate "nuclear apartheid," as it has the right to peaceful atomic energy, and has insisted that it will continue its nuclear research and efforts to advance its nuclear power sector.
An Iranian delegation to be led by Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, will arrive in Moscow for a further round of nuclear talks March 1.
