MOSCOW, April 14 — The Kremlin has urged caution and tempered expectations of swift outcomes following U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest calls for visible progress on ending the war in Ukraine. Despite what Russian officials call “very good” communications with the Trump administration, Moscow emphasized that rebuilding deeply fractured ties will require time and effort.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that multiple channels of dialogue — including foreign ministry contacts, intelligence discussions, and talks involving President Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev — are actively underway. However, he noted that “instant results are not realistic” due to what he described as the extensive damage inflicted on U.S.-Russia relations during the administration of President Joe Biden.
Trump, positioning himself as a global peacemaker, has reiterated his desire to end what he calls the “bloodbath” in Ukraine. His administration increasingly frames the war as a U.S.-Russia proxy conflict — echoing Moscow’s own rhetoric.
Tensions rose after Trump’s special envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, met with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg last Friday. Trump later commented that while discussions may be moving “OK,” it’s time for decisive action: “There’s a point at which you just have to either put up or shut up.”
The meeting between Putin and Witkoff reportedly lasted over four hours. Russian state TV showed a cordial greeting, with Witkoff placing his hand over his heart — a symbolic gesture of goodwill.
Asked about the possibility of a Trump-Putin summit, Peskov said both nations were “walking along this path together very patiently,” but emphasized that rebuilding diplomatic bridges requires “serious and painstaking work.”
The war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s 2022 invasion, has sparked the most severe East-West confrontation since the Cold War’s 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. European leaders continue to condemn Moscow’s actions as a 21st-century land grab, while Putin maintains the conflict is a necessary defense against NATO encroachment into Russia’s historic sphere of influence.
Putin continues to frame the war as a larger geopolitical showdown with a “declining West” that, in his view, betrayed post-Cold War promises by expanding NATO and isolating Russia.
As diplomatic contacts increase, both sides appear to be navigating a cautious return to dialogue — but with vastly different narratives about the roots and resolution of the war.