VIENNA -- Decisions by the foreign ministers of Russia and China to skip talks on Iran's nuclear program this weekend are further denting expectations that the stalled negotiations will produce a deal by next Sunday.
The U.S. -- which is sending Secretary of State John Kerry to join three other ministers -- is putting on a good face. State Department spokesman Marie Harf said the six powers talking with Iran remain "united in the negotiating room, as we always have."
But the absence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is noteworthy, in light of suggestions by France that Moscow is deviating from joint negotiating stances with Iran. It may also reflect recognition that the two sides are too far apart and that the talks will have to be extended.
The most important disputes over how deeply Iran must cut its nuclear program to gain sanctions relief are between Washington and Tehran, so Kerry's presence is important. He will be able to talk directly to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is already at the Vienna negotiations.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and German Foreign Minister Walter Steinmeier are also attending. But the absence of Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi could be detrimental -- it took foreign ministers or deputies of all six nations to negotiate a preliminary deal with Tehran in November.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke Saturday of "huge and deep" differences. But he told Iranian TV that "if no breakthrough is achieved, it doesn't mean that [the] talks have failed."
Lavrov is on a Latin America tour culminating with a Tuesday meeting in Brazil of emerging major economic nations, including China. Still, his no-show comes at a troubling moment -- just days after Fabius criticized Moscow for having "differences of approach" at the negotiations.
Fabius didn't elaborate. But comments by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov appeared to support the French foreign minister's remarks.
Ryabkov, Moscow's chief nuclear negotiator, told Russia's Ria Novosti news agency Saturday that his country was ready to cooperate with the others at the talks only "as long as nothing is happening that would endanger our interests." Russia has strong business ties with Iran and is discussing a deal to build as many as eight nuclear reactors in the country.
Kremlin-backed analysts blame the U.S. for stalling the talks by pushing unrealistic demands.
Vladimir Evseyev of the Russian state-run CIS institute said U.S. insistence that Iran shut down uranium enrichment facilities and negotiate on its missile program violates the accords outlining the scope of the talks. The U.S., he said, wants negotiations to "to be lengthy and painful," to keep sanctions in place.
Diplomats familiar with the talks said Moscow shares Washington's desire for a deal. But while the U.S. wants deep cuts in Iranian programs that could be used to make nuclear arms, Russia would settle for pervasive monitoring, they said.
Former State Department official Mark Fitzpatrick said the Russian absence might simply indicate that Moscow doesn't anticipate agreement by the deadline.
But "if a deal does appear to emerge, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lavrov on the next plane to Vienna," said Fitzpatrick, now with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Information for this article was contributed by Natalyia Vasilyeva and Omid Khazani of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/13/2014