Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has warned that is country will not accept US President Donald Trump’s peace proposals while Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky remains in power.
The statement from one of Putin’s officials has followed threats from Trump to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil imports unless Moscow agrees to “stop the bloodshed”.
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said: “We have not heard from Trump a signal to Kyiv to end the war.”
“All that exists today is an attempt to find some kind of scheme that would first allow us to achieve a ceasefire, as imagined by the Americans, and then move on to some other models and schemes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that is country will not accept US President Donald Trump’s peace proposals while Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky remains in power
GETTY
“[But] as far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand; namely to resolve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict,” he added.
He also warned that although Russia took the solutions proposed by Trump “very seriously”, they could not accept them as they were.
The term “root causes” has become a Kremlin shorthand for referring to President Zelensky’s pro-Western government in Ukraine.
While Ryabkov’s remarks aren’t a major shift from previous Russian rhetoric, their timing is significant, coming shortly after Trump’s threats to target the Kremlin’s oil exports.
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Putin has already rejected the US President’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, and Moscow’s latest statements could provoke a reaction from Trump
On Tuesday, the White House stated that Trump was “frustrated” with both Putin and Zelensky over the war.
This week, the 47th US President accused Ukraine of attempting to back out of a minerals deal with the US and warned Zelensky of “big, big problems” if that happened.
Trump also said he was “p****d off” at Putin for suggesting that Ukraine should be placed under temporary UN governance until elections could be held.
Ukraine had postponed all elections after Russia’s invasion in 2022, in accordance with its constitution
GETTY“New leadership means you’re not gonna have a deal for a long time,” Trump said.
Ukraine had postponed all elections after Russia’s invasion in 2022, in accordance with its constitution.
The US leader also threatened retaliation on Russia by imposing tariffs of up to 50 per cent on imports to the US from countries purchasing oil from Moscow.
This would greatly affect China and India, the two main consumers of Russian oil since their invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US and Russian leaders have had two official talks about the war in Ukraine, and negotiators from the two countries have held two rounds of discussions in Saudi Arabia.
A ceasefire in the Black Sea, announced by the White House following discussions between Putin and Trump last month, has not yet been implemented, according to a Ukrainian navy spokesperson.
Dmytro Pletenchuk said: “In order to adhere to the terms of any agreement, it must first be formalised. Considering that a formal document … does not yet exist, it is difficult to talk about compliance with any agreements.”