International Desk //

There is nothing new in the threat made by the newly elected US President Donald Trump to end the Ukraine war, said Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, the Russian presidential office. He made this comment at a press conference on Thursday. He said that Moscow is ready to hold dialogue with Trump ‘on the basis of mutual respect’ to end the Ukraine war.

Trump called on Russia on Wednesday to agree to a deal to end the Ukraine war. He threatened to impose new sanctions on Moscow if the deal is not agreed to.

Donald Trump and other leaders of his Republican Party have promised to quickly end the Ukraine war. Therefore, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to have a phone conversation about the Ukraine crisis.

In response to Trump’s threat the previous day, Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia is ready to ‘hold dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect’. We are waiting for a signal on this issue. But so far we have not received any such signal.

A peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev is one of Trump’s campaign promises. But Trump has not yet released any outline of how it will be done.

Among the conditions that Putin has given for a peace agreement, they must withdraw from the territories still under the control of Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Experts believe that Putin’s demand will be very difficult to meet.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that not even an inch of their territory will be given up. However, he also said that Kiev will try to get back its lost territory through “diplomatic” means instead of using force.

Kiev is also demanding that they be given security guarantees from NATO and the United States. In addition, troops from the United States and other Western countries should be deployed in Ukraine to maintain peace.
Threat of sanctions

Yesterday, in a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote in a somewhat threatening tone to Putin, “We have to make a deal now. Otherwise, high taxes, tariffs and sanctions will be imposed.”

Trump wrote, “I do not want to hurt Russia. I have always had a very good relationship with President Putin in the past.” Even though the Ukraine war has been going on for three years, Trump has not said anything harsh about Putin so far. On the contrary, he has praised Putin as usual.

Peskov said that the Kremlin does not see anything “specifically new” in Trump’s threat of sanctions.

The Kremlin spokesman also said that it has been clear since Trump’s first term that the United States “likes” sanctions. He also commented that Moscow is “closely monitoring” all of Trump’s statements.

In February 2022, Russia sent troops to Ukraine. In parallel, the United States and its allies imposed a series of sanctions on Russia. Moscow has been sharply critical of these sanctions.

The West expected that the sanctions would collapse the Russian economy. But that did not happen. On the contrary, the Russian economy is largely doing well.

Peskov admitted that our economy is also experiencing some problems, like other countries in the world. But Russia has the necessary financial resources to meet “all military needs.”

Russian troops have been making progress on the battlefield for the past few months, regularly capturing new villages and settlements. At the same time, Moscow and Kiev have increased air strikes deep into both countries beyond the borders of the battlefield.

Today, the Russian army claimed that it had captured another small settlement in the Donetsk region of Donbas. Russia annexed this administrative region to its territory by passing a law in parliament in 2022.

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