Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports

Russia says open for Ukraine talks, will respond to Trump

· RTE.ie

Russia has said it needed time to respond to US President Donald Trump's ultimatum to end the Ukraine war or face new sanctions but it was ready for fresh talks with Kyiv.

Yesterday, Mr Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal with Ukraine, voicing fresh frustration with Moscow, and laid out an arrangement with NATO to supply Kyiv with new military aid sponsored by the alliance's member countries.

"President Trump's statement is very serious. We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow's first reaction to the comments.

Mr Trump warned that if no deal was concluded, he would put "very severe tariffs" on Russia's trade partners in a bid to impede Moscow's ability to finance the war.

Peace talks on ending the conflict, now in its fourth year, have stalled.

But Mr Peskov said Russia was still ready to negotiate and was "waiting for proposals from the Ukrainian side on the timing of the third round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations".

Two rounds of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, held in Turkey in recent months, have failed to yield a breakthrough on ending the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Russian troops have launched record numbers of drones and missiles at Ukraine, killing dozens of civilians in recent weeks.

Burnt-out cars were among the rubble after a Russian drone attack in a suburb of Dnipro yesterday

"We maintain our readiness," Mr Peskov added, but indicated Mr Trump's announcement could embolden Kyiv and hamper peace efforts.

"It seems that such a decision made in Washington and in NATO countries and directly in Brussels will be perceived by Kyiv not as a signal for peace but for the continuation of the war," he said.

The Ukrainian side has called it "pointless" to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation, which it says lacks any mandate to make concessions and has turned up to two rounds of talks with a string of demands it finds unacceptable.

Mr Trump said he was disappointed but not done with Mr Putin, according to a BBC interview, hours after Mr Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened Russia with sanctions.

"I'm disappointed in him [Putin], but I'm not done with him. But I'm disappointed in him," Mr Trump told BBC.

"We'll have a great conversation. I'll say: 'That's good, I'll think we're close to getting it done,' and then he'll knock down a building in Kyiv," the president added.

Mr Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine yesterday, and threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agrees a peace deal, a major policy shift brought on by frustration with Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine.

Donald Trump said he is disappointed in Vladimir Putin (inset), but he is not done with him

It comes as the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc is close to reaching an agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia.

"We hope to reach a political agreement on the 18th sanctions package. We are very, very close. I hope it comes today," Ms Kallas said before a meeting with foreign affairs ministers from the 27 EU countries in Brussels.

"We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100%," Mr Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

He added that they would be "secondary tariffs" that target Russia's remaining trade partners - seeking to cripple Russia's ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte meeting with Mr Trump in the Oval Office

Russia's top trading partner last year was China, accounting for about 34%, followed distantly by India, Turkey and Belarus, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.

Mr Trump and Mr Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of weapons from the US - including Patriot anti-missile batteries - and then send them to Ukraine.

"This is really big," Mr Rutte claimed, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Mr Trump's long-held complaints that the US is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid Ukraine.

Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK were among the buyers helping Ukraine, added the NATO chief.

"If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking... I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously," Mr Rutte said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he had spoken with Mr Trump and was "grateful" for the weapons deal.

'Very long time'

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would play a "decisive role" in the new weapons plan.

However, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Mr Trump's sanctions deadline was too far into the future.

"Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day," she said.

Mr Trump attempted a rapprochement with Mr Putin shortly after starting his second term, having campaigned on a pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.

His pivot towards Mr Putin sparked fears in Ukraine that he was about to sell out Ukraine, especially after Mr Trump and his team berated Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office on 28 February.

But in recent weeks Mr Trump has shown increasing frustration with Mr Putin, as the Russian leader stepped up missile and drone attacks to record levels instead of halting his invasion.

The US has also U-turned from an announcement earlier this month that it would pause some arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Mr Trump said his wife Melania had helped change his thinking about Mr Putin, a man for whom he formerly expressed admiration.

"I go home, I tell the First Lady, 'you know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation,'" Mr Trump said. "And she said, 'Oh really? Another city was just hit.'"

He added of Mr Putin: "I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy."