Russia said negotiations with the U.S. on a ceasefire deal in Ukraine continue and Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to contact with President Donald Trump, responding for the first time Monday to Trump’s comments over the weekend that he is “pissed off” at Putin after the Russian leader suggested last week that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be replaced.
Russian President Vladimir Putin while visiting a military base on March 26, 2025, in Murmansk, ... More
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia continues “to work with the American side, first of all to build our bilateral relations, which were badly damaged during the [Biden] administration,” Reuters reported.
Peskov added that Putin “remains open to contact” with Trump, the BBC reported.
Peskov also downplayed Trump’s remarks to NBC over the weekend, claiming they were paraphrased—though NBC’s transcript of the telephone conversation Trump had with anchor Kristen Welker on Sunday show Trump said he “was very angry, pissed off, when Putin . . . started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility.”
Trump was referring to Putin’s suggestions Friday that a transitional government should be put in place in Ukraine ahead of a peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war and that Zelenskyy should be replaced in a “democratic presidential election” Putin said would “result in the coming to power of a competent government.”
Trump, in the Sunday interview with NBC, also threatened oil sanctions against Russia if a peace agreement could not be reached and he thinks “it was Russia’s fault,” adding that the U.S. had conveyed his anger to the Russians.
Trump reiterated his anger toward Putin later Sunday, telling reporters aboard Air Force One Putin is “supposed to be making a deal with” Zelenskyy, “so I wasn’t happy” with Putin’s comments Friday.
“If I feel, if we're in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that – you know, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility, because that's not going in the right location, you understand?” Trump told NBC, according to the transcript.
The U.S. announced earlier this month it had reached separate agreements with Russia and Ukraine for a limited ceasefire against energy targets, then subsequently announced both sides had agreed to negotiate an agreement for a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of continuing attacks against energy facilities in the weeks after the announcement, which came after an hours-long call between Trump and Putin on March 18. Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday there was a “psychological deadline” to implement the ceasefire and that if he thinks Russia is “tapping us along, I will not be happy about it.”
Zelenksyy on Sunday urged “increased pressure” on Russia and “all the tough measures that can break its capacity to wage war,” including sanctions and more air defense for Ukraine in response to continued attacks by Russia amid the ceasefire negotiations. The ongoing strikes show “Putin couldn’t care less about diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump Says He’s ‘Pissed Off’ At Putin, Threatens To Bomb Iran And Impose More Tariffs (Forbes)
Russia And Ukraine Black Sea Truce: Here's What We Know (Forbes)
Ukraine, Russia Continue Attacks—Despite Limited Ceasefire Offer (Forbes)