Russia rejected US proposals for a cease-fire in Ukraine on Tuesday — but insisted it was taking American ideas “seriously” after President Trump on Sunday said he was “pissed off” at Moscow for dragging out peace negotiations.
“We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can’t accept it all in its current form,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state media of Trump’s unconditional cease-fire plan, to which Ukraine has already agreed.
“As far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It is completely absent, and that must be overcome.”
President Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 31, 2025. APIt comes just a day after Kremlin spokesman Dymtri Peskov went into damage control, claiming Moscow was still amicable with Washington despite Trump’s concerns.
Ryabkov’s comments, which were given to Russian magazine International Affairs, suggest the US and Russia haven’t been able to bridge the difference that President Vladimir Putin cited last month when he insisted the US-backed proposal needed to be reworked.
Although Moscow claims to be open to peace, its actions indicate a desire to continue the war, according to the Atlantic Council’s Alex Plitsas. On Monday, Russia ordered the conscription of 160,000 new troops — despite Trump’s urging of both parties to “stop the killing.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. APCalling up new troops is “not usually indicative of a cease-fire,” the national security expert said.
As Moscow continues dragging out cease-fire negotiations with new demands, Trump has grown less patient, suggesting on Sunday that he may impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Putin is foot-dragging over a wider deal.
Putin, for his part, has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO and for Russia to control the entirety of four Ukrainian regions it has already claimed as its own — but Trump has been adamant about first securing a cease-fire before discussing terms for an end to the more than three-year-old war.
Ukrainians walk near the site of a drone strike in Kharkiv on March 31, 2025. SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockAsked about Trump’s latest remarks, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Russia was “continuing our contacts with the American side.”
“The subject is very complex,” he said Tuesday. “The substance that we are discussing, related to the Ukrainian settlement, is very complex. This requires a lot of extra effort.”
Separately, Ryabkov also warned in his interview that strikes against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would have “catastrophic” consequences after Trump threatened to bomb the country unless it came to an agreement over its nuke program.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska, on March 31, 2025. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images“We consider such methods inappropriate, we condemn them, we consider them a way for (the U.S.) to impose its own will on the Iranian side,” Ryabkov said.
The Kremlin has deep ties with Iran, as the US adversary is one of its closest allies. Tehran has supplied Russia with countless Iranian-made drones that are dominating the battlefield as Moscow runs low on traditional munitions.
Moscow has also offered to be a mediator between the White House and Iran.
With Post wires
