An offer proposed by Moscow and rejected by the US has raised concerns in Europe: “Scandalous”
Moscow has proposed an exchange of concessions to the United States, under which the Kremlin would stop providing intelligence to Iran, including the precise coordinates of some US military assets in the Middle East, if Washington stops information support to Ukraine on Russia, according to Politico.
Two people familiar with US-Russia negotiations said such a proposal was made by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev to Trump administration envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during their meeting last week in Miami.
The United States rejected the proposal, added the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
However, the mere existence of such a proposal has raised concerns among European diplomats, who fear Moscow is trying to create a rift between Europe and the United States at a critical time for transatlantic relations.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with the allies' refusal to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, he harshly criticized his NATO allies, calling them “cowards”.
The White House declined to comment, and the Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment from Politico.
Russia has expanded its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran since the beginning of the war
An EU diplomat described Russia's proposal as “scandalous”. The suggested deal risks fueling growing suspicions in Europe that the meetings between Witkoff and Dmitriev are not producing concrete progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine, but are seen by Moscow as an opportunity to draw Washington into a bilateral arrangement between the two powers that would leave Europe on the sidelines.
On Thursday, the Kremlin announced that US-brokered Ukraine peace talks were “on hold”.
Russia has made several Iran-related proposals to the United States, all of which have been rejected by the U.S. side, another person familiar with the discussions said. It said the US also rejected a proposal to transfer Iran's enriched uranium to Russia, information originally reported by Axios.
Russia has expanded its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran since the start of the war, a person briefed on the intelligence said. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the escalation and wrote that Moscow was providing satellite imagery and drone technology to help Tehran target US forces in the region. The Kremlin called the information “fake news”.
Donald Trump hinted at a link between intelligence sharing with Iran and Ukraine in a recent Fox News interview, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin “might be helping (the Iranians, no) a little bit, yeah, I think, and he probably thinks we're helping Ukraine, right?”.
The United States continues to provide intelligence to Ukraine, even as it has reduced other forms of support. Washington temporarily suspended the exchange last year after a tense Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
One European diplomat tried to play down the risks of the Russian proposal, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron said in January that “two-thirds” of military intelligence for Ukraine is currently provided by France.
However, intelligence sharing remains one of the last essential pillars of US support for Ukraine, after the Trump administration halted most financial and military aid to Kiev last year. Washington continues to deliver weapons to Ukraine, but under a NATO-coordinated program in which allies pay the United States for military equipment. But supplies of critical air defense munitions are under pressure amid the conflict between the US and Israel on the one hand and Iran on the other.
Most recently, the Trump administration decided to ease sanctions on Russian oil to ease pressure on oil markets, prompting concern and strong criticism from European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
