Russia says it has taken note of Trump's shorter deadline for Ukraine ceasefire

MOSCOW

Russia has taken note of US President Donald Trump's statement on shortening the timeline for resolving the Ukraine conflict and his disinterest in high-level contacts, the Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday.

"We have taken note of President Trump’s statement yesterday," Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow, adding that he "would prefer to refrain from any assessments" of the US leader’s remarks.

On July 14, Trump, who has sought to end the Ukraine war since beginning his second term in January and spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin at least six times this year, said he intended to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners in case of a lack of progress toward a settlement.

On Monday, the US president said he reduced that deadline to 10-12 days, and that he was not interested in speaking with Putin anymore.

"The 'special military operation' continues. At the same time, we remain committed to the peace process to settle the conflict surrounding Ukraine and to securing our interests during this resolution," Peskov said, commenting on Trump's remarks.

Asked whether a potential meeting between Putin and Trump was still under consideration, Peskov said: "This issue was never seriously on the table to begin with, and it still isn’t."

Turning to the issue of extending the New START Treaty, Peskov said Russia and the US are currently not engaged in talks on the future of the 2010 treaty on nuclear arms reduction. The pact expires in February 2026, with Trump saying he wants to maintain the treaty's limits.

"What’s preventing them, frankly, is the state of bilateral relations, which have deteriorated under the (former) Biden administration," he said.

As for the process of normalizing Russia-US relations, according to the spokesman's assessment, it has been moving "neither steadily nor decisively."

Moscow is interested in normalizing relations with Washington and would like to see more progress, but for things to move forward, both sides need to take initiative, Peskov stressed.