Rubio acknowledged that Washington and Moscow are not aligned over Iran but argued that Russian assistance would not alter the U.S. position. "Nothing that anyone is providing Iran is in any way impeding our ability to act as necessary to protect the United States," Rubio said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects a guard of honor during his official state visit to Astana, Kazakhstan, on May 28, 2026. The Iran War has largely confirmed President Putin’s view of the destabilizing nature of US foreign policy. (Shutterstock/Takeshisan)

The visit to Moscow is the latest instance in which Trump has turned to his CIA director to help navigate tense diplomatic negotiations with a major U.S. adversary. Ratcliffe also traveled secretly to Cuba this May to warn the country’s communist regime to make fundamental reforms or risk a U.S. pressure campaign.

The two-day summit of the 10-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan shows the limits of U.S. economic warfare.

US-Iran war news LIVE: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) threatened to hit Iran “hard” after the two sides exchanged fire for the first time after weeks of calm, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowing to keep a pressure campaign aimed at hobbling Tehran's economy.