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Russia, US Hold Consultations on Iran's Nuclear Program to Break Vienna Deadlock

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during talks in Moscow last July (Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry).
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during talks in Moscow last July (Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry).
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Russia, US Hold Consultations on Iran's Nuclear Program to Break Vienna Deadlock

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during talks in Moscow last July (Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry).
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during talks in Moscow last July (Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry).

A round of Russian-US consultations was launched in Moscow on Wednesday, focusing on the Iranian nuclear program and mechanisms to deal with the stalemate in the Vienna negotiations over the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA).

Russia anticipated the dialogue with the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, by expressing “grave concern” over the stalled negotiations, and stressed the need for Tehran to show flexibility regarding international demands.

The US envoy held a round of talks on Wednesday with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is in charge of the Iranian issue. The two sides are expected to hold a second round of talks on Thursday to seek to converge the views and find mechanisms to re-launch the stalled negotiations in Vienna on the Iranian nuclear program.

Ryabkov preceded the talks by expressing his country’s hope that the United States and the West would not complicate the situation regarding the process of returning to the nuclear agreement. He added that Moscow would call on Tehran to “agree with other parties on this issue.”

Russia is concerned by the lack of progress in the normalization of the situation regarding cooperation between the IAEA and Iran, the Russian state news agency, RIA Novosti, quoted Ryabkov as saying.

“I should also state we are alarmed and concerned as we see no progress in normalization of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, a number of aspects are in limbo,” he said.

“It is unacceptable to depart from these negotiating positions. Attempts to revise what was agreed in Vienna would be counterproductive and we will keep sending signals about that both to Iran and our colleagues from the Western group,” he noted

The diplomat added: “We call on the Iranian side to show a proper understanding that additional efforts are required.”

Moscow had expressed concern over the stalled negotiations and what it described as “unilateral actions by the parties that impede the return to the dialogue table and making progress,” in reference to the Western threat of sanctions on the one hand, and Tehran’s repeated declarations of reviving uranium enrichment on the other.

Russian state media focused on a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which revealed Iran’s progress in stockpiling 60 percent enriched uranium.

Russian sources noted that Moscow’s positions converged with the International Energy Agency’s conclusion that the Iranian authorities “create obstacles to verifying the activity of its nuclear facilities,” but at the same time held the West responsible for this development, noting that the policy of Washington and Western capitals led to an escalation of the situation.

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NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks after Russia’s Attack with New Hypersonic Missile

A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
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NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks after Russia’s Attack with New Hypersonic Missile

A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
A missile shrapnel lies on the grass in front of damaged rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on November 22, 2024. (AFP)

NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.

The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.”

Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday's Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro.

In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech to his nation that the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

Putin said Western air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov kept up Russia's bellicose tone on Friday, blaming “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries” in supplying weapons to Ukraine to strike Russia.

"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns were not taken into account have also been quite clearly outlined," he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the European Union, echoed Moscow's talking points, suggesting the use of US-supplied weapons in Ukraine likely requires direct American involvement.

“These are rockets that are fired and then guided to a target via an electronic system, which requires the world’s most advanced technology and satellite communications capability,” Orban said on state radio. “There is a strong assumption ... that these missiles cannot be guided without the assistance of American personnel.”

Orban cautioned against underestimating Russia’s responses, emphasizing that the country’s recent modifications to its nuclear deployment doctrine should not be dismissed as a “bluff.” “It’s not a trick... there will be consequences,” he said.

Separately in Kyiv, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called Thursday's missile strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe.”

At a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Lipavský also expressed his full support for delivering the necessary additional air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks.”

He underlined that the Czech Republic will impose no limits on the use of its weapons and equipment given to Ukraine.

Three lawmakers from Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that Friday's previously scheduled session was called off due to the ongoing threat of Russian missiles targeting government buildings in central Kyiv.

In addition, there also was a recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and nongovernmental organizations "in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who added this is not the first time such a threat has been received.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office continued to work in compliance with standard security measures, a spokesperson said.

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the Oreshnik missile, whose name in Russian means “hazelnut tree,” was fired from the Kapustin Yar 4th Missile Test Range in Russia’s Astrakhan region, and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six nonnuclear warheads each carrying six submunitions and reached a spoeed of Mach 11, it said.

Test launches of a similar missile were conducted in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

Thursday's attack struck the Pivdenmash plant that built ICBMs when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The military facility is located about 4 miles (6 1/2 kilometers) southwest of the center of Dnipro, a city of about 1 million that is Ukraine’s fourth-largest and a key hub for military supplies and humanitarian aid, and is home to one of the country’s largest hospitals for treating wounded soldiers from the front before their transfer to Kyiv or abroad.

The stricken area was cordoned off and out of public view. With no fatalities reported from the attack, Dnipro residents resorted to dark humor on social media, mostly focused on the missile’s name, Oreshnik.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck a residential district of Sumy overnight with Iranian-designed Shahed drones, killing two people and injuring 13, the regional administration said..

Ukraine’s Suspilne media, quoting Sumy regional head Volodymyr Artiukh, said the drones were stuffed with shrapnel elements. “These weapons are used to destroy people, not to destroy objects,” said Artiukh, according to Suspilne.