Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI and Maxim Shemetov / AFP
Russia says it needs time to respond to US President Donald Trump's ultimatum to end the Ukraine war or face new sanctions but it is ready for fresh talks with Kyiv.
On Monday, Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal with Ukraine, voicing fresh frustration with Moscow, and laid out an arrangement with NATO to supply Kyiv with new military aid sponsored by the alliance's member countries.
"President Trump's statement is very serious. We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow's first reaction to the comments.
Trump warned that if no deal was concluded, he would slap "very severe tariffs" on Russia's trade partners in a bid to impede Moscow's ability to finance the war.
Peace talks on ending the conflict, now in its fourth year, have stalled.
But Peskov said Russia was still ready to negotiate and was "waiting for proposals from the Ukrainian side on the timing of the third round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations".
Two rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, held in Turkey in recent months, have failed to yield a breakthrough on ending the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire.
Russian troops have launched record numbers of drones and missiles at Ukraine, killing dozens of civilians in recent weeks.
"We maintain our readiness," Peskov added, but indicated Trump's announcement could embolden Kyiv and hamper peace efforts.
"It seems that such a decision made in Washington and in NATO countries and directly in Brussels will be perceived by Kyiv not as a signal for peace but for the continuation of the war," he said.
The Ukrainian side has called it "pointless" to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation, which it says lacks any mandate to make concessions and has turned up to two rounds of talks with a string of demands it finds unacceptable.
- AFP
