A pause in the Vienna talks was required due to “external factors,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter, without elaborating. Borrell said the sides had come very close to agreement but didn’t say when — or if — the negotiations would be able to resume.
The rupture follows escalating tensions between the Kremlin and the White House. Russia warned on Saturday that it wanted U.S. guarantees that sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine wouldn’t affect its planned partnership with Iran.
Oil prices briefly extended gains on the break in negotiations as traders discarded cautious expectations that the U.S. would eventually lift its sanctions on Iran’s economy and ease an effective blockade on the OPEC member’s oil exports.
U.S. and European officials had warned for weeks that the window for a deal was closing, urging an agreement on a handful of outstanding issues.
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