Trump Administration Rejected Russia’s Offer For An Iran-for-Ukraine Intelligence Swap
According to a new report, Russia offered to curb intelligence support for Iran if the United States stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, but the Trump administration rejected the proposal. The reported offer surfaced as the White House continued trying to manage two volatile fronts at once, the war in Ukraine and the worsening confrontation involving Iran.
According to a report published by POLITICO on Friday, the proposal was relayed by Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy, during talks in Miami with U.S. officials, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Under the reported framework, Moscow would scale back intelligence assistance to Tehran, while Washington would halt intelligence support to Ukraine, a tradeoff U.S. officials and outside diplomats viewed as lopsided given the far broader strategic stakes of the war in Europe. The Trump administration reportedly declined the offer.
Earlier this month, Witkoff said Russia had assured President Donald Trump that it was not sharing intelligence with Iran about U.S. military assets in the Middle East. In a CNBC interview on March 10, Witkoff said the denial came during a call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov repeated the same message separately to him and Kushner. “I can tell you that yesterday, on the call with the president, the Russians said they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said. “That’s what they said.”
That denial came after reports that Russia had provided Iran with targeting information involving U.S. warships and aircraft in the region. Reuters also reported this week that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed a Wall Street Journal report alleging Russia was supplying Iran with satellite imagery and improved drone technology, calling the story “fake news.”
For the Trump administration, rejecting the proposal appears to have been about more than principle. U.S. intelligence support has been central to Ukraine’s ability to track Russian troop movements, defend cities, and strike military targets. Accepting Moscow’s offer would have meant giving up leverage in Europe in exchange for a Russian promise on Iran that U.S. officials had little reason to trust, especially after weeks of conflicting claims over whether Moscow was aiding Tehran at all.
According to POLITICO, Putin also floated the idea of transferring Iran’s enriched uranium to Russia, another proposal the United States declined. Taken together, the overtures suggested the Kremlin was attempting to reframe its relationship with Tehran as something the White House could negotiate over, while seeking concessions on Ukraine, where Moscow has long wanted to weaken Western military backing for Kyiv.
