Russia plays hardball on Ukraine peace discussions after Trump talks of Putin contact

Russia demands full compliance with Putin's conditions to end Ukraine war, playing hardball with Trump in negotiations.

Russia's point man for relations with the United States said on Monday (February 10, 2025) that all of President Vladimir Putin's conditions must be met in full before the war in Ukraine can end, suggesting Moscow is playing hardball with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine swiftly after hundreds of thousands of deaths, said on Sunday he thought he was making progress though he has not set out how he hopes to end the conflict.

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Asked whether he had had a conversation with Mr. Putin since he became president on January 20 or before, Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One: "I’ve had it. Let's just say I’ve had it."

The Kremlin refused to either confirm or deny the contact.

But Moscow swiftly underscored that its maximalist demands — as set out by Putin in June last year — remained the opening bid at the outset of the negotiations.

The "political solution as we envisage it cannot be achieved otherwise than through the full implementation of what was pronounced by President Putin when he spoke to the Russian Foreign Ministry in June," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a Moscow news briefing in English.