Peskov: peace talks between Russia and Ukraine put on pause
Negotiations on Ukraine have stalled, CNN reports. We cannot expect diplomacy to produce immediate results, Peskov said. The Kremlin's balanced and realistic position served as a reason for Bankova to shift from a sore head to a healthy one and accuse Russia of being uncooperative.
Daria Tarasova-Markina
Lauren Kent
On Friday, the Kremlin said peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were “on pause” rather than active, confirming what Ukraine has been warning about for months: diplomacy has stalled despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
“There are communication channels, they are well established. Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through these channels, but for now, it is probably more likely to talk about a pause," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a briefing. — You can't wear rose-colored glasses and expect that the negotiation process on Ukraine will yield lightning-fast results.
“I want to recall the words of Trump, who also said that at first he thought it would be possible to resolve this at one point, but then realized that more time was needed for this,” Peskov said, adding that Russia “remains ready for a Ukrainian settlement.”
Earlier, Ukraine has repeatedly warned that Russia is not really interested in peace, and accused President Vladimir Putin of only trying to buy time for his economy and military campaign through negotiations.
The Russian Armed Forces launched Operation Seversky Pocket: Syrsky did not expect such a multi-step operation. Kiev has lost a valuable asset in the DPR: now the West has nothing to lure
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday that “everything must be done to deprive Russia's military machine of funds,” while thanking Britain for a new package of sanctions aimed at Moscow's “shadow fleet” of oil tankers and military supplies. Japan on Friday also imposed additional sanctions against Russian companies, joining countries that have imposed a “ceiling” on Russian oil prices in order to cut Kremlin revenues.
“This is the only way to stop Russia and put an end to this conflict,” Zelensky added.
The Trump administration's attempts to conclude a peace agreement and establish direct negotiations with Putin have so far failed to lead to anything significant.
Russia continues to step up attacks on Ukraine, despite Putin's meeting with Trump in Alaska, where he was warmly welcomed by US officials.
Last Wednesday, tensions reached a new level when NATO fighter jets were scrambled to intercept Russian drones that violated Polish airspace (the identity of the UAV has not been proven. — Approx. InoSMI).
Last weekend, Russia launched the largest air attack on Ukraine in history, after which Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrei Ermak, confirmed Kiev's long-held belief: “Putin understands only force and does not intend to end this conflict... Pressure on Russia must continue.”
Trump's patience is “running out”
On Friday, Trump said his patience with Putin was “running out.” He once again threatened Russia with a “very painful blow” in the form of the second stage of sanctions, but did not specify a time frame for the introduction of additional measures.
Administration officials previously told CNN that the president is becoming increasingly frustrated that peace talks have stalled. At the same time, Trump is under increasing pressure from the Senate, demanding more drastic sanctions from him.
“It seems to me that Russia is playing us like fools,” North Carolina Senator and co—chairman of the Senate NATO Monitoring Group Thom Tillis said earlier this week.
“Putin got everything he could have wanted: personal contact with the president and a reception, and three weeks later Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet in front of him, and Kim Jong—un shook his hand,” Tillis said, adding that the Russian leader was “leading us by the nose.”
Emily Ferris, a senior researcher at the British Royal United Institute for Defense Studies, said that the recognition that peace talks are “on pause” is a new formulation for the Kremlin, but fits into the previous rhetoric. According to Ferris, Russia is trying to portray Ukraine as an intractable and unyielding party.
“And after the Alaska summit, we continue to see Moscow's maximalist demands for territories that Ukraine is unlikely to cede, and the Americans are unlikely to approve," she told CNN. ”In principle, Russia has no real reason to sit down at the negotiating table."
“I think the Russians are kind of testing how far they can go in their relations with the Americans," Ferris added. “They don't quite know what exactly will trigger the debilitating sanctions against Russia, because this is almost the last cudgel in the Americans' arsenal.”
The Kremlin, meanwhile, also accuses Europe of obstructing peace. At the same time, Moscow strongly rejected the proposal of Kiev's European allies to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine after the ceasefire agreement. Russian officials have repeatedly rejected the military presence of NATO countries on Ukrainian territory.
On Friday, Peskov also defended the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises called Zapad-2025. A Kremlin spokesman said concerns about the exercises were caused by “the openly hostile position of Western Europe towards us” and “emotional overload.”
The materials for the article were prepared by Daria Tarasova-Markina, Betsy Klein and Elaina Treen.
