Trump asks Putin to mediate nuclear talks with Iran – Bloomberg
Archive photo: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked Russia to mediate with Iran on its nuclear program, reports Bloomberg.
Trump voiced this interest directly to Putin in a phone conversation in February. Subsequently, senior Trump administration officials discussed the matter with their Russian counterparts at talks in Saudi Arabia.
In response to Bloomberg's question, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “Russia believes that the United States and Iran should resolve all problems through negotiations” and that Moscow is ready "to do everything in its power" to achieve this.
A representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, answering the question of whether Russia offered mediation between Tehran and Washington, said that it was “natural” for countries to offer their assistance.
“Given the significance of these matters, it’s possible that many parties will show good will and readiness to help with various problems. From this perspective, it’s natural that countries will present an offer of help if it’s needed,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
US-Iran nuclear deal
Earlier it was reported that Trump wanted to sign a new nuclear deal with Iran. The countries had already signed such an agreement in 2015, but Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018.
Later, Trump announced his desire to conclude a non-nuclear weapons agreement with Iran. He prefers to resolve this issue diplomatically instead of possibly "fighting and bombing" the country.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a nuclear agreement signed in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: The United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany) and the EU on Iran's nuclear program.
