Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his close ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and said their countries are close partners in trade and international affairs as they opened bilateral talks Wednesday on his trip to Beijing
Iran has demanded changes to the venue and format for negotiations with the U.S . this Friday, two sources with knowledge tell Axios. Why it matters: If the new demands scupper Friday's talks, they risk pushing President Trump off the diplomatic path and toward the military option at a time when he has already assembled enormous firepower in the Gulf. Behind the scenes: The sources said the Iranians were walking back from understandings that were reached in recent days after several countries were already invited to participate in the talks. - The Iranians want to move the talks from Istanbul to Oman. - They also now want to hold them in a bilateral format, only with the U.S., rather than with several Arab and Muslim countries…