UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- After three weeks of talks, the United States and key European countries remain locked in fundamental disagreement with Russia about the scope of UN sanctions that Iran should face for refusing to rein in its nuclear program.

The Europeans and Americans want tough sanctions to punish Iran but Russia says it will agree only to limited measures targeting the nuclear program. Neither side is budging, setting the stage for lengthy negotiations and the possibility of no immediate action against Iran.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Wednesday that there were still "wide gaps" after six rounds of closed-door talks between the Russians and Europeans.

"We are still basically where we have been," said Bolton.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin echoed that view, saying that senior foreign ministry officials from the five veto-wielding UN Security Council members the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France and Germany failed to bridge the differences during a telephone discussion Tuesday. He also said that there was "a rather intense exchange of opinion" at a Wednesday meeting of UN ambassadors.

Russia and China have been publicly pushing for dialogue instead of UN punishment.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani called last week in Moscow for a renewal of international talks with Iran, rather than sanctions. Lavrov said Moscow could help bridge the differences with the U.S. and Europeans.

"After the discussions which we had with Mr. Larijani … we believe that there is a chance for a negotiated outcome," Churkin said.

Bolton and Churkin, when asked whether negotiations should now move up to the level of the involved nations' foreign ministers, said the UN ambassadors would keep talking. But Bolton said other discussions would talk place, including on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam, which will be attended by American, Russian and Chinese leaders.