The U.S. won’t negotiate exemptions to Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia to save the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and instead would try to strike an alternative agreement that excludes Russia if the Kremlin doesn’t back off from last-minute demands, a senior State Department official said.
With one of President Biden’s top foreign-policy goals imperiled, the senior U.S. official said Washington would start exploring alternatives to the deal over the next week if Russia didn’t back away from its demands for written guarantees exempting Russia from Ukraine-related sanctions that could curtail its future trade with Iran. Such guarantees could undercut the West’s punishing array of sanctions leveled at Russia over the Ukraine invasion.
