The Kremlin has stated that while dialogue with U.S. President Donald Trump’s team is progressing well, it is unrealistic to expect quick results, given the damage inflicted on U.S.-Russia relations under President Joe Biden.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that diplomatic contacts are ongoing through various channels, including the foreign ministry, intelligence services, and President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev. However, he emphasized that restoring bilateral ties will require “serious and painstaking work.”
“It’s impossible to expect instant outcomes,” Peskov said, explaining that years of strained relations under the Biden administration cannot be reversed overnight.
Trump, who has described the war in Ukraine as a “bloodbath” and suggested it is a proxy conflict between the U.S. and Russia, has vowed to bring peace if re-elected. His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in St. Petersburg last Friday for over four hours of talks reportedly centered on a potential peace deal.
Speaking about the talks, Trump remarked on Saturday that they “may be going OK,” but added, “There’s a point at which you just have to either put up or shut up.” He also called on Russia to “get moving” in the negotiations.
Asked whether a Trump-Putin meeting was on the horizon, Peskov said both sides are “walking this path together very patiently,” but such a meeting would require further groundwork.
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine plunged Moscow and the West into the most serious confrontation since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The war continues to dominate international affairs, with Russian forces controlling nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Western leaders, including those in Europe and Ukraine, continue to denounce the invasion as a colonial-style land grab. They insist on military defeat for Russia as the only acceptable resolution. Meanwhile, Putin frames the conflict as a broader struggle against Western expansion and NATO’s presence in what he considers Russia’s strategic sphere of influence.
