U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 27, 2026.
Evan Vucci | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Wednesday poured cold water on the possibility of Iran transferring its highly enriched uranium stockpiles to Russia or China as part of a deal to end the war with the United States.
“No, I’m not comfortable” with such an arrangement, President Trump said at a White House cabinet meeting.
The Kremlin, which has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has previously said it would accept enriched uranium from Iran in a bid to promote a peace agreement.
China is also speculated to be willing to accept the material, media outlets reported.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, President Trump declared that Iran’s enriched uranium would be destroyed in the United States, the Islamic Republic itself, or “another acceptable location.”
The comments at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting came as the United States and Iran continue to signal they are working toward at least a short-term deal to end the three-month-old Middle East war.
Oil prices, which had risen sharply due to the war’s impact on global energy supplies, fell after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a conference that the United States wants to give diplomacy “every chance of success.”
Trump also said the United States is “not talking about any sanctions relief” against Iran or about providing money to Iran as part of the deal.
“No sanctions, no money, nothing,” he told the meeting. “We have control of the money that they claim is theirs. We will continue to control that money. When they are behaving appropriately and doing the right thing, we are going to let them have the money, and so far we are not doing that.”
“One thing is not dependent on the other,” he added.
He also said he would not accept a short-term deal that would give Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route that has been closed to tanker traffic during the war. Until the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran, Iran had no control over the waterway.
President Trump said, “The Straits will be open to everyone.” “We’re going to watch it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of our negotiation.”
