U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday at the G7 summit that he is prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart within weeks in what would amount to a stunning change of direction in the two countries’ smoldering standoff.

The potential breakthrough was announced by Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he would facilitate the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. president and the Iranians.

The surprise news came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a dramatic, unscheduled appearance on the sidelines of the summit held in Biarritz on Sunday at the invitation of Macron.

The 41-year-old French leader said the “conditions for a meeting” between Trump and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani “in the next few weeks” had been created through intensive diplomacy and consultations.

“If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that,” Trump said at a press conference with Macron at the end of three days of G7 talks.

Asked if he thought the timeline proposed by his French counterpart sounded realistic, Trump replied: “It does.”

Trump and Rouhani will be in New York for the U.N. General Assembly at the end of September which could provide the stage for the talks.

Rouhani appeared to accept the idea of opening to talks with Washington.

“I believe that for our country’s national interests we must use any tool,” Rouhani said of Zarif’s Biarritz visit in a speech aired live on state television Monday.

Commenting on the talks about Iran at the G7, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “It’s a big step forward. Now there is an atmosphere in which talks are welcomed.”

The G7 meeting concluded Monday in Biarritz without a customary joint communique, but a one-page declaration to “underline their great unity and the positive spirit of the debates.”

The document focuses on trade, Iran, Ukraine and Libya.

“The G7 is committed to open and fair world trade and to the stability of the global economy,” said the declaration.

“Therefore, the G7 wishes to overhaul the WTO (World Trade Organization) to improve effectiveness with regard to intellectual property protection, to settle disputes more swiftly and to eliminate unfair trade practices,” the declaration read.

On Iran, the leaders of the group said they fully share two objectives: to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons and to foster peace and stability in the region.

(CGTN)