US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during talks between Washington and Kiev technical teams in Saudi Arabia that Washington cannot not communicate with Russia, because not communicating with Moscow does not make sense.
According to Ashura News, citing IRNA, the new US State Department spokesperson said on Monday local time in an interview with Fox Business News: "The US had not spoken to Russia for three years. There was zero communication. For two major nuclear powers and for the US as the most important and powerful country in the world, not talking to a country like Russia makes no sense."
Trump and Putin had two telephone conversations in February and March 2025 (24 Bahman and 18 Esfand 1403), which were announced by the White House, and the focus of these conversations was the restoration of Russian-American relations and the resolution of the war in Ukraine.
In the second phone call between the US and Russian presidents, Moscow supported Washington's initiative for a planned ceasefire, including in the Black Sea, but considered its implementation conditional on the resolution of a number of important issues.
According to the White House National Security Advisor, the Russian and American delegations will focus on the issue of stopping the fighting in the Black Sea in the talks in Riyadh on Monday, and in the next phase of the talks they will discuss issues related to the verification of the ceasefire, peacekeeping forces, as well as land ownership.
US State Department claim about Iran
Bruce also claimed about Iran that, following the resumption of US President Donald Trump's maximum pressure policy, Tehran has no choice but to come to the negotiating table regarding its nuclear program.
A US State Department spokesperson claimed: "Iran does not have many options. They really need to know that the world as they knew it is over."
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed hope for an agreement with Iran during his second term in office, claimed on February 4, 2025, corresponding to 16 Bahman 1403, by signing a memorandum to continue the maximum pressure policy against the Islamic Republic of Iran that he is ready to talk to the Iranian president. Claiming that he had “hesitated” to sign the memorandum, he claimed: “This is very difficult for Iran. I hope we don’t have to use it too much.” It remains to be seen whether we can reach an agreement with Iran?
Despite signing the memorandum imposing a maximum pressure policy on Tehran, the US President announced in an interview with the country’s Fox Business news network on March 7, 2025 (Esfand 17, 1403) that he had sent a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran and requested negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi announced on Esfand 12, 1403: “This evening (Wednesday, Tehran time) I received Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, and in addition to discussions on bilateral relations and regional issues, a letter was also received from the President of the United States.”
This comes as the US Treasury Department announced that four rounds of sanctions on Iranian oil sales have been imposed since the issuance of the presidential national security memo on February 4, 2025, in an effort to put maximum pressure on Tehran.
US government officials continue to make contradictory statements against Iran’s nuclear program, threatening military action while inviting the Islamic Republic to negotiate. Steve Whittaker, the US special representative for the Middle East, recently told Tucker Carlson, the ousted Fox News anchor, that Trump’s recent letter to the Iranian government was not intended to be a threat.
He claimed that Trump had the military upper hand and that it was more natural for the Iranians to seek a diplomatic solution, “while he is the one pursuing this issue.”
Regarding the content of Trump's letter to Iran, Whittaker said: "It basically said, 'I'm a president of peace. This is what I want. There's no reason we should do this militarily. We have to talk. We have to create a verification program so that nobody is worried about the military use of your nuclear material, because the alternative is not a very good alternative.'"
The US special envoy for the Middle East claimed that US talks with Iran were continuing through "informal contacts, through multiple countries and multiple channels" and that Trump "is ready for an opportunity to resolve all the issues with Iran and get them back into the world and their country back on its feet. He wants to build trust with them."
Whittaker expressed hope that he or another Trump administration official would travel to Tehran for the talks.
But after this interview with Whittaker, Mike Waltz, the US government's national security adviser, announced: "The Donald Trump administration wants the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear program and will not be satisfied with just limiting nuclear enrichment."
In an interview with CBS News, he stated that the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear program must be done in front of the world, adding: "All options are on the table and Iran must give up its intention to acquire nuclear weapons."
The US official said: "Our message to Iran is that let's resolve the issue through dialogue and diplomacy, but if this does not happen, the alternative will not be interesting."
This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran has stated that it has never sought to acquire a nuclear bomb, and the Supreme Leader's fatwa also confirms this.
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