Putin, Merkel agree Iran nuclear deal should be preserved

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed, in a phone call on Friday, that it’s important to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, the Kremlin press service said. During the conversation, held on Berlin’s initiative, the two leaders also discussed Ukraine and Syria. Agreement was reached to galvanize work of the Normandy format (also known as the Normandy Four - Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France) and issues relating to the establishment of a UN mission to protect OSCE observers in eastern Ukraine were studied, according to the statement. Putin and Merkel also discussed issues related to the Chancellor’s planned working visit to Sochi on May 18.