The Russian-Ukrain peace talks are “more on suspension” than they are operating, the Kremlin said on Friday in approval confirming Ukraine has been warning for months.
“There are channels of communication and are established. Negotiators can use them to communicate. But at this point it’s fair to say that things are more paused than positive interactions.” “It’s important not to wear rosy glasses or expect the negotiation process to have lightning results.”
“I want to remind you of what President Trump himself said. At first he thought it would be resolved quickly, but later realized it would take more time,” Peskov said.
Ukraine repeatedly warned that Russia had no real interest in peace, and repeatedly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using negotiations to buy more time for economic and war efforts.
Ukrainian leader Voldy Mirzelensky said on Friday that “we must do everything possible to take money from Russian war machines.” Japan also joined the country on Friday imposes further sanctions on Russian companies and implements a price cap on Russian oil, with the aim of reducing revenues for the Kremlin.
“This is the only way to stop Russia and end this war,” Zelensky added.
The Trump administration’s efforts to mediate a peace deal and directly engage in a meeting with Putin have never been more common.
Russia has pleased other US officials as it continues to intensify attacks on Ukraine, including civilians, even if Putin meets Trump in Alaska.
Tensions reached a new level this week as NATO fighters scrambled and fired down multiple Russian drones that violated Polish airspace on Wednesday.
Russia launched its biggest air attack on Ukraine last weekend. Afterwards, Andri Yamak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, repeated Kiev’s long-standing beliefs.
Trump said Friday that his patience with Putin is “away fast.”
He again previewed the possibility of hitting Russia “very hard” in the second phase of sanctions against Moscow, but did not provide a timeline to impose additional measures.
Administration officials previously told CNN that the president is increasingly unhappy with the lack of concrete progress in peace negotiations to end the war. At the same time, Trump is facing more pressure from the Senate.
“I think Russia is playing, they’re playing us like piano right now,” Senator Tom Tillis, North Carolina Senate President, said earlier this week.
“(Putin) has got everything he wanted. He has access to the president. He is receiving a red carpet reception. Three weeks later, he is receiving a red carpet reception from Xi Jinping and wandering around with Kim Jung Woo,” Tiris said.
Emily Ferris, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank, said she has admitted peace negotiations are “on pause.” Russia is trying to portray Ukraine as an irrational party in negotiations, Ferris said.
“And what you’re really seeing since the Alaska Summit is the biggest demand from Moscow for territory that Ukraine is very unlikely to succumb or that Americans are very unlikely to tolerate,” she told CNN. “There’s absolutely no real reason Russia will come to the table.”
“I think Russians are looking at how far they can go with Americans,” Ferris added. “They don’t really know what is causing the debilitating sanctions against Russia, because that’s one of the last sticks that Americans have.”
Meanwhile, the Kremlin holds Europe accountable for creating obstacles to peace.
However, Moscow openly rejected proposals from Kiev’s European allies in order to contribute to Ukraine’s potential peacekeeping forces if the ceasefire contract was finalized. Russian officials have repeatedly rejected the army of life from the NATO country on Ukrainian soil.
Peskov on Friday defended a joint military exercise that Russia, called Zapad-2025, is holding with Belarus this week. A Kremlin spokesman said concerns about the exercise were due to Western Europe’s “open and hostile attitudes towards us” and “swelling emotions.”
