MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Monday dismissed a report by the Financial Times which suggested that the Ukraine peace process was fizzling out because U.S. President Donald Trump’s attention was now on Iran and he was losing interest in Ukraine as a result.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had noted such media reports, but had reached a different conclusion about Trump’s attitude towards Ukraine peace talks.
“President Trump’s frequent references to Ukraine in his recent statements suggest the opposite,” Peskov told reporters.
“Judging by his statements, President Trump has lost no interest whatsoever. Furthermore, he is strongly urging (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy to strike a deal.”
Trump expressed frustration with Zelenskiy in an interview with Politico earlier this month, saying the Ukrainian president “has to get on the ball, and he has to get a deal done.” Trump also rejected Zelenskiy’s offer to help the U.S. with downing drones over the Gulf states, telling NBC’s Meet the Press that the “last person we need help from is Zelenskiy.”
Peskov said Russia was still interested in continuing talks to end the war, but that a venue and date for the next round of negotiations remained unclear.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Andrew Osborn)
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