MOSCOW
The Kremlin said that US President Donald Trump made no ceasefire request to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their Monday phone call and also did not set a new date for trilateral Russia-Ukraine-US contacts.
Speaking at a Tuesday press briefing in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is grateful to Washington for its mediation efforts on Ukraine and is interested in continuing the process.
“President Putin highly appreciates these mediation efforts; we are grateful for this and are interested in this process continuing,” Peskov said.
Peskov added that Trump did not ask for a ceasefire in Ukraine before a full resolution is reached, despite reports that Kyiv needs a pause to help Arab states counter drone attacks from Iran.
“Such conditions were not set,” he said. “This has already been stated repeatedly. All the modalities related to a ceasefire are already well understood.”
Oil sanctions and Ukraine
On the topic of partially lifting US sanctions on Russian oil exports, Peskov said it “was not discussed in detail.”
“The actions taken by the US, meaning the restrictions on oil, are related to attempts to stabilize the situation on global energy markets against the backdrop of the situation in the Persian Gulf,” he said.
Commenting on Washington’s statement that Trump, during the call, called for a speedy end to the conflict in Ukraine, Peskov said: “In general, indeed, everyone is interested in a swift ceasefire – it’s hard to argue with that.”
“The main concrete outcome (of the call) is that the trilateral format needs to continue, specifically the trilateral one. Everyone is interested in it, and the main thing is that the Americans are ready to continue their mediation efforts,” he said.
At the same time, there are no specific dates yet for the continuation, and no specific locations geographically either, Peskov noted.
According to him, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is in constant contact with the Russian side.
– Russia ready to help on Iran
On the Middle East conflict, Peskov said that Putin, from the very beginning, before hostilities even started, had proposed various options for Russian mediation that could help ease tensions.
Many of Russia’s proposals for de-escalating the conflict in the Middle East “remain on the table,” but Putin cannot be called a mediator in settling the situation, he said.
“This requires multiple understandings, multiple agreements. So let’s be a little patient,” Peskov said.
Peskov did not give details on Russia’s proposals, adding that Moscow, “to the best of its ability,” is ready to help resolve the conflict between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.
He declined to comment on media reports about alleged transfers of Russian intelligence to Iran.
On Feb. 28, the US and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran that have so far killed some 1,300 people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf countries that host US assets.
