Kremlin refuses to comment on Trump's remarks about possible peace deal with Ukraine this week

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the position of US President Donald Trump's administration on excluding Ukraine’s membership in NATO satisfies the russian side, but refused to comment on Trump's hopes for a deal this week.

This is reported by Reuters.

"We have heard from Washington at various levels that Ukraine's membership in NATO is excluded. Of course, this is something that pleases us and coincides with our position," he said.

Peskov repeated the narrative that Ukraine's alleged membership in the US-led alliance "would pose a threat to the national interests of the russian federation. And, in fact, this is one of the root causes of this conflict."

Meanwhile, US President Trump said that he hopes that russia and Ukraine will conclude an agreement this week to end the war in Ukraine. Commenting on this, Peskov said: “I would not like to make any comments now, especially regarding the timeframe.”

“President putin and the russian side remain open to finding a peaceful settlement. We continue to work with the American side and, of course, hope that this work will yield results,” he said.

He declined to comment directly on Bloomberg’s report that the United States was ready to recognize russian control over Crimea as part of a broader peace agreement.

“The work to find a peaceful settlement cannot and should not be done publicly. It should be done in a completely discreet manner,” the Kremlin spokesman added.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, earlier, US President Donald Trump expressed hope that the aggressor country of russia and Ukraine “will conclude an agreement this week” and “start doing business with the United States.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that US President Donald Trump will abandon attempts to broker a peace deal between russia and Ukraine within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be made.