Lavrov and Pompeo discuss Putin’s initiative on Gulf security summit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo have discussed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to organize a summit of the leader of the five United Nations Security Council permanent members, Germany and Iran on security in the Gulf region, the Russian foreign ministry said after their telephone conversation.

"The two top diplomats exchange views on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to hold a meeting of the leaders of the UN Security Council member nations, Germany, and Iran to look for ways of ensuring lasting security in the Gulf region with due account of concerns of all the sides," TASS cited the ministry as saying.

According to the ministry, the Russian side reiterated its support to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 that created a legal basis for the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the settlement of around the Iranian nuclear program. "Lavrov stressed that the signing of this agreement back in 2015 was a major political and diplomatic achievement geared to enhance the nuclear nonproliferation regime and regional security in the Middle East," it said.

"The sides also discussed a schedule of bilateral contacts for the immediate perspective," the ministry added.

On August 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin came out with an initiative to organize a summit of the United Nations Security Council permanent members, Germany and Iran to discuss problems of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "We suggest holding an online meeting of the heads of state from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the leaders of Germany and Iran in the near future," the president said in a statement posted on the Kremlin website. "The purpose is to identify steps that will allow for avoiding confrontation and an aggravation of the situation in the UN Security Council and for furnishing collective support for the further uninterrupted implementation of UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231, which provided an international legal basis for JCPOA implementation."