# Russian refusal of US mediation

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Russian refusal of US mediation," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/russian-refusal-of-us-mediation/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The Russian announcement during the 2026 Iran war that it would no longer take part in Ukraine settlement talks led by the United States, on the grounds that Washington had negotiated with Iran and attacked it mid-negotiation. John Kiriakou's assessment was that the reasoning was correct.*

- **Stated Russian reason:** The United States cannot be trusted to broker talks
- **The precedent cited:** Talks with Iran, followed by an attack on Iran
- **Kiriakou's assessment:** "I think that's exactly right"

**Russian refusal of US mediation** refers to Moscow's announcement, during the [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war), that it would no longer engage in [Ukraine](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ukraine-proxy-war) settlement talks headed by the United States.

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) summarised the Russian position as a straightforward inference from American conduct: Washington had been *"engaged supposedly in talks with Iran, pretending to go through talks with Iran, and then they attacked Iran,"* so *"why should we trust the Americans to broker talks with Ukraine when they could just as soon turn around and attack us in the middle of the talks."*[1] His own verdict was one sentence: *"I think that's exactly right."*[1]

He strengthened the point by noting that it had happened twice — *"the two wars with Iran happened in the middle of the so-called discussions that America was having with Iran on its nuclear program"* — and concluded that the United States *"can't be trusted anymore."*[2]

The same passage records that [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump) had reached out twice within ten days for a ceasefire with Iran, and that the Iranians had played games with the approaches.[2]

## See also

- [Vladimir Putin](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/vladimir-putin)
- [Ukraine as a proxy war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ukraine-proxy-war)
- [Trump Iran Ceasefire Efforts](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/trump-iran-ceasefire-efforts)
- [2026 Iran war](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/2026-iran-war)

## Sources

1. Kiriakou: Washington Has No Say in This War (2026-04-03), at 05:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Ar9pc_twk&t=339s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-03-unfiltered-with-s-a-m-kiriakou-washington-has-no-say-in-this-war/
2. Kiriakou: Washington Has No Say in This War (2026-04-03), at 06:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Ar9pc_twk&t=371s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-03-unfiltered-with-s-a-m-kiriakou-washington-has-no-say-in-this-war/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/russian-refusal-of-us-mediation/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt