The United States and Russia agreed Thursday to resume high-level communication between their armed forces, as both sides have pushed to establish warmer relations during President Trump’s second term.

The US military is continuing a significant buildup of air and naval assets in the Middle East as negotiations over a deal with Iran continued with talks in Geneva on Tuesday. The pieces are being moved into place both to pressure Tehran as terms of a deal are discussed and to have options to strike inside the country should negotiations over its nuclear program fail,

The White House says talks between special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials are still planned after a Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.