Kremlin says Putin in phone call with Trump downplays immediate Ukraine talks resumption

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump on Friday that Kyiv had undermined the possibility of an immediate resumption of trilateral Ukraine peace talks after it had hit Moscow with drones during last month's election, the Kremlin said.

Trump has so far unsuccessfully tried to broker a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, which started with Russia's invasion in February 2022.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Russia's war in Ukraine is at a dangerous stalemate and the United States will keep working toward a settlement to end the conflict.

Putin had said that Moscow had been ready to resume negotiations with Kyiv after last month's Russian parliamentary elections, but Ukraine launched attacks on Moscow and hit polling stations, putting the peace process in jeopardy, according to him.

"By launching a massive drone attack on Moscow, other cities and polling stations, as well as on specific individuals involved in organising the election, on the main voting day, the Kyiv regime effectively disrupted the possibility of an immediate resumption of the negotiation process," Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said about the call with Trump.

"And now, as the president said, we will consider when those negotiations can be resumed," he added, referring to trilateral negotiations involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.

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Ushakov also said Putin and Trump discussed major economic initiatives during the phone call, including potential supplies of Russian fuel.

Trump said earlier on Friday after the call with Putin that Russia had agreed to immediately supply diesel to US and global markets in an effort to lower fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections next month, although analysts said the amounts would likely not reduce prices greatly.