The Kremlin, asked on Monday if Russia had held consultations with Iran before or after Tehran responded to a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump urging the country to negotiate a nuclear deal, said Iran formulates its own policy positions.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear deal.

Asked if Moscow had consulted with Tehran before or after Trump’s letter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:

“No. Iran is a sovereign country and independently formulates its position on key foreign policy issues. It is clear that very tense contacts are ahead.”

Trump has previously said he would reimpose a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, aimed at preventing the country from building nuclear weapons, even as he has signalled openness to a new nuclear accord with Tehran.

Russia and Iran have drawn closer since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Tehran providing Moscow with drones.

Regarding possible talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, Peskov said: “It is clear that Iran is seeking negotiations based on mutual respect, constructive negotiations.”

“We, of course, for our part, will continue to do everything that depends on us, everything that is possible, in order to bring this process of settling the Iranian nuclear dossier into a peaceful direction.”

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Iran will not be bullied into negotiations, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had sent a letter to the country’s top authority urging Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal.

In an interview with Fox Business, Trump said, “There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal” to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

At a meeting with senior Iranian officials, Khamenei said Washington’s aim was to “impose their own expectations,” Iranian state media reported.

“The insistence of some bullying governments on negotiations is not to resolve issues. … Talks for them is a pathway to have new demands, it is not only about Iran’s nuclear issue. … Iran will definitely not accept their expectations,” Khamenei was quoted as saying, without directly mentioning Trump.

In response to Khamenei’s comments, White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes reiterated almost word for word the choice of negotiations or military action that Trump said he had presented to Iran.

“We hope the Iran Regime puts its people and best interests ahead of terror,” Hughes said in a statement.

While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated a “maximum pressure” campaign that was applied during his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports to zero.

During his 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark deal between Iran and major powers that had placed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

After Trump pulled out in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, Iran breached and far surpassed those limits.

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has said that time is running out for diplomacy to impose new restrictions on Iran’s activities, as Tehran continues to accelerate its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade.

Tehran says its nuclear work is solely for peaceful purposes.

Khamenei, who has the last say on Iran’s key policies, said there was “no other way to stand against coercion and bullying”.

“They are bringing up new demands that certainly will not be accepted by Iran, like our defence capabilities, missile range and international influence,” he was quoted as saying.

Although Tehran says its ballistic missile programme is purely defensive, it is seen in the West as a destabilising factor in a volatile, conflict-ridden Middle East.

Tehran has in recent months announced new additions to its conventional weaponry, such as its first drone carrier and an underground naval base amid rising tensions with the U.S. and Israel.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said on Saturday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, Reuters reported.

“The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,” the ministers said in a joint statement.

The plan, which was drawn up by Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders on Tuesday, has been rejected by Israel and by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a “Middle East Riviera”.

The Egyptian proposal envisages the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, read the report.

The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.

The statement issued by the four European countries on Saturday said they were “committed to working with the Arab initiative,” and they appreciated the “important signal” the Arab states had sent by developing it.

The statement said Hamas “must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more” and that the four countries “support the central role for the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda.”