Kremlin says Vladimir Putin ready to help Donald Trump on Iran nuclear negotiations

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US President Donald Trump that he is ready to use Russia's close partnership with Iran to help with negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump said after a phone call with Mr Putin that time was running out for Iran to make a decision about its nuclear programme.
The US president said his Russian counterpart agreed that the Islamic Republic should not have nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump said Mr Putin "could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Mr Putin "will be able to get involved when necessary."
"We have close partner relations with Tehran and, naturally, President Putin said that we are ready to use this level of partnership with Tehran in order to facilitate and contribute to the negotiations that are taking place to resolve the issue of the Iranian nuclear dossier," Mr Peskov added.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday local time that abandoning uranium enrichment was "100 per cent" against the country's interests.
He rejected a central US demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
After five rounds of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran's insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and Tehran's refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium — possible raw material for nuclear bombs.
Mr Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said nothing about halting the talks, but said the US proposal "contradicts our nation's belief in self-reliance and the principle of 'We Can'".
In the same press conference, Mr Peskov confirmed that Russia would respond to Ukraine's latest attacks as and when its military sees fit.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin had told Mr Trump that Moscow was obliged to retaliate.
Ukraine used drones to strike Russian heavy bomber planes at air bases in Siberia and the far north at the weekend.
Russia also accused it of blowing up rail bridges in the south of the country, killing seven people.
"The president described the Kyiv regime as a terrorist regime, because it was the regime's leadership that consciously gave the order, the command, the order to blow up a passenger train," Mr Peskov said.
Russia has not yet provided evidence that Ukrainian leaders ordered the rail attacks, and Kyiv has not acknowledged responsibility.
Mr Peskov said Mr Putin and Mr Trump did not discuss holding a face-to-face meeting when they spoke on Wednesday local time in Moscow.
He said there was a general understanding that such a meeting was necessary, but it had to be properly prepared.
The two did not discuss the possible lifting of sanctions against Russia.
Reuters