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Medvedev: Russia may support sanctions on Iran

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-25 11:29

US President Barack Obama (R) meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in New York September 23, 2009. The two leaders are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. [Agencies]

PITTSBURGH: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that Russia would support new sanctions against Iran if diplomatic efforts should fail.

Speaking to university students in Pittsburgh, where leaders of the world's largest economies have gathered for a two-day summit, Medvedev offered clarification of remarks this week that had opened the door to Russia potentially backing sanctions.

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"I don't consider sanctions the best way to achieve results on Iran ... but all the same, if all possibilities to influence the situation are exhausted, then we can use international sanctions," he told 200 University of Pittsburgh students.

Medvedev told the student who asked the question that he felt as if he were still talking to President Barack Obama. "Yesterday he talked to me about this for a long time, about 30 minutes, and now you are asking," the Russian president said.

Medvedev praised Obama's "courageous" decision to scrap Bush administration plans for a missile shield in Eastern Europe, which he said showed that Obama had listened to him when he expressed Russia's opposition.

"This means we are learning to listen to each other, which is very important." Medvedev said.

The Russian president stressed how comfortable he felt dealing with Obama, noting that they are of the same generation and received the same education in law.

Medvedev's appearance at the University of Pittsburgh comes 50 years to the day after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev spoke to Pitt students during his historic 1959 trip to the United States.

Medvedev spoke in the Cathedral of Learning, which at 535 feet (163 meters) tall is the second-tallest educational building in the world. The tallest is in Russia, at Moscow State University.

At the end of his hourlong question-and-answer session, Medvedev told the students what he considers most important in life: love.