Vladimir Putin rips up Donald Trump's Ukraine peace deal: 'Cannot accept!'
The Kremlin has dashed Donald Trump's hope to end the unlawful war in Ukraine, launched by Vladimir Putin three years ago, quickly.
Russia "cannot accept" the terms of the peace deal drafted by the US, according to an official. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said the Kremlin has looked seriously at the proposal coming from Washington that would bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
But the plan, he claimed, doesn't take into account the "root causes" of the war. Dashing hopes for peace once again, the official said: "We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can't accept it all in its current form." Speaking to the magazine International Affairs, Mr Ryabkov added: "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."
Vladimir Putin ordered the illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, in February 2022.
Upon declaring war in a televised speech, he declared the objective of the so-called "special military operation" was to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly claimed without providing evidence that Ukraine is led by a Nazi regime - despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being born to Jewish parents.
The interview comes days after US President Donald Trump lashed out at Putin, voicing his frustration at the lack of cooperation in Moscow to bring the war to a swift end - a major pledge the American leader made during his electoral campaign.
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The US President told NBC News: "You could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when... Putin started getting into Zelensky's credibility, because that's not going in the right location."
US delegates have been meeting, separately, with their Ukrainian and Russian counterparts over the past few weeks to reach the terms of a ceasefire.
Ukraine has agreed to the terms of a 30-day ceasefire on attacks on energy plants and key civilian infrastructure, as has agreed to the terms of the so-called Black Sea ceasefire. Russia has so far refused a US proposal for 30-day pause to the fight, claiming it would only benefit Ukraine as it would allow the country to replenish its arms stocks.
The Kremlin has also stalled the enforcement of the Black Sea deal, which would "eliminate the use of force" in the area, as it is demanding the US to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Russia following the invasion.
