Moscow says no progress in months toward ending Ukraine conflict

Prospects for a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine conflict are no closer than they were several months ago, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Wednesday.

“Responsibility is on representatives of the European war party for the fact that the prospect of a political and diplomatic solution today, in my opinion, is no closer than it was a few months ago," Ryabkov told a news conference in Moscow.

Commenting on US President Donald Trump's proposal for an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Ryabkov said Moscow takes statements coming from Washington “as seriously as possible,” but noted that US statements were not always backed by actions.

Asked about prospects of contacts between Moscow and Washington on strategic stability, Ryabkov said there were currently no prerequisites or opportunities for launching a dialogue.

"Russia would be ready to discuss strategic stability with the US only if Washington took concrete steps to improve bilateral relations rather than making what he described as empty declarations," he said.

On space security, Ryabkov said the US had not notified Russia about the deployment of weapons in near-Earth orbit, adding that there was still time to prevent an arms race in outer space.