Posted on 04/01/2025 8:17:07 AM PDT by Twotone
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to President Donald Trump’s criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying on Monday that Russia is still “working on” a peace deal with Ukraine but added that it’s a “time-consuming process.”
In remarks to NBC News on Sunday, Trump threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” on Russia if the country fails to come to an agreement to end the “bloodshed in Ukraine.” Trump also said he was “very angry, pissed off, when Putin started getting into [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s credibility and started talking about new leadership in Ukraine.” Asked about Trump’s comments, Peskov told Reuters, “We are continuing to work with the American side, first of all to build our bilateral relations, which were badly damaged during the previous (U.S.) administration.”
“And we are also working on the implementation of some ideas related to the Ukrainian settlement. This work is underway, but so far there are no specifics that we could or should tell you about. This is a time-consuming process, probably due to its complexity,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
Trump, who confronted Zelensky in the Oval Office last month, told reporters on Sunday that he is upset with Putin’s apparent refusal to negotiate with the Ukrainian leader.
“I was disappointed in a certain way some of the things that were said over the last day or two having to do with Zelensky,” Trump said. “He considers Zelensky not credible, he’s supposed to be making a deal with him whether you like him, you don’t like him. So I wasn’t happy with that. But I think he’s going to be good.”
The president’s stern message for Putin comes as he has faced some criticism for being too friendly with Russia while taking a harsh approach to Ukraine. In February, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky on national television, accusing the Ukrainian president of taking American military support for granted and “gambling with World War III.”
Zelensky was asked to leave the White House following the explosive Oval Office meeting before signing a minerals deal with the United States. The Trump administration later appeared to make progress on the minerals deal with Zelensky, but Trump said on Sunday that the Ukrainian president is “trying to back out” of the deal.
“We made a deal on rare earths, and now he’s saying, ‘well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.’ He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO,” Trump said. “He understands that, so, if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems.”
Last week, the White House said that it came to separate agreements with Russia and Ukraine for a ceasefire on the Black Sea, along with a ban on either country attacking energy facilities. Both countries, however, have accused each other of violating the ceasefire by conducting strikes on energy infrastructure.
Putin and Zelensky are kids who can't behave.
Trump faces reality of dealing with Putin
Zelensky and the Ukraine Parliament in 2022 passed a law saying that negotiating with Russia was a criminal act of treason.
Russia has pointed this out - what kind of binding negotiations among governments could be enacted with such a law in place? The next regime could simply declare that any agreement was void because the law was not followed.
No one has answered that question.
Putin has every right to object to talking with that little toad, Zy. But, DJT can get pi$$ed all he wants.
NO, Putin is actually pretty pragmatic..he’s ruthless and not to be trusted..but he can be very pragmatic..
For a “kid”, he was pretty tough KGB and has managed to avoid WWIII even though biden and all of europe tried to start it
z is a pos
maybe you should read more about the situation
Fixed it for them.
When Daddy’s “pissed off” so what? Kids respond to consequences, not expressions of emotion.
Right then and there Trump should have said he was done with Zelensky. There should have been a big price to pay for that kind of disrespect and ingratitude. Instead, Trump went right back to negotiate with him. Mixed signals don’t work.
Zelensky enacted a decree in 2022. Therefore another decree can be enacted. Ukraine and Russia have negotiated prisoner exchanges.
I know about the situation.
Maybe you should read more about kids and behavior.
The “pissed off” thing was reported by NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-angry-putin-zelenskyy-iran-sanctions-rcna198729
I trust NBC News as far as I can spit.
Well, Zelensky went on national TV to play a piano with his penis. I hope Trump knows what kind of degenerate Zelensky is.
The Kremlin, as usual, is misrepresenting the Ukrainian position.
“He (Putin) does not know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but with another president of Russia” was the edict.
In the context of the Russian electoral cycle, this was to be expected. Putin launched the invasion and Putin personally derailed the peace talks in march 2022 (before Boris Johnson got involved).
At the time, Russia was 16 months from a presidential election in Russia with lots of scuttlebutt over who might replace Putin if he retired.
So the statement was a bit daft but only ruled out direct talks between Zelensky and Putin, until the next election - while also ensuring that any back channel negotiations between, say Putin and Yanukovych, had no legal standing.
The Russian “election” was in March 2024. Z’s edict has been largely pointless ever since.
It doesn’t ban anything; it’s not an executive order. Z can rescind it.
Trump’s bluster on Ukraine is quickly reaching the expiration date.
More sanctions aren’t going to slow the Russians down and further escalations invite a reciprocal response.
Meanwhile there are multiple flashpoints in the middle east to deal with, not to mention an impending trade war with the entire world.
Russia has been patient with the West’s provocations up till now, but there is a point where it makes more sense to retaliate.
Meanwhile China does nothing and wins.
So much for ending the war in one day huh?
Why are you continuing to misrepresent the law? The state that no one other than the president may negotiate with the Russians. This is a reasonable law. Would you want Biden to be negotiating a peace right now?
As if Putin were a freely elected president. Putin seems not to have any problem negotiating with the “presidents” of North Korea and Iran.
... into a hurricane
Trump’s bluster on Ukraine is quickly reaching the expiration date.
************************
Trump has a better cards when dealing with Ukraine.
Not so much with Russia since Putin has the better hand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.