Russia says it is still “to work with the United States” after President Trump said he was “angry” and “edgy” with Vladimir Putin.
In his first response to Trump’s criticism of the Russian president, the Kremlin tried to play tensions between the two leaders.
“We continue to work with the American side, first of all, on the construction of our relations,” said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
He said there were no plans for a call between Putin and Trump this week, but that Putin is open to “if necessary”.
The attempt to smoothing things came after Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he was angry with Putin to have attacked the credibility of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and threatened to impose a 50% rate on countries buying Russian oil if Putin did not accept a cease-fire.
It was a change in tone marked towards the Russian president.
US and Russian officials have been in talks for several weeks to try to conclude an agreement to end the war in Ukraine – during which Trump often criticized Zelensky but not Putin.
But Trump’s anger with Putin was launched when the Russian president led to the idea of an interim government in Ukraine under the support of the UN which could Replace President Zelensky.
“You could say that I was very angry, upset, when … Putin started to enter the credibility of Zelensky, because it does not go in the right place,” Trump told NBC News.
“The new leadership means that you will not have an agreement for a long time,” he added.
During his conference daily calling on Monday with journalists, Peskov said that part of what had been said in the NBC interview was “paraphrased”.
Trump’s comments have reflected in certain parts of the Russian media.
The Russian newspaper Pro-Kremlin, Moskovsky Komsomolets, published rare criticism of the American president, saying that Trump did not fulfill his “obligations” to arrest Ukraine hitting a striking Russian energy infrastructure.
“All the agreements at President Trump are only worth a few under the day of the market,” concluded the newspaper, while “Moscow is ready to conclude an agreement with the American president”.
