Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during Russian-Iranian meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace on Jan. 17 in Moscow, Russia. Photo: Contributor/Getty Images
The Kremlin issued a warning on Monday about the fragility of current U.S.-Russia relations, after refusing to confirm that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently spoke, multiple outlets reported. Why it matters: Trump repeatedly pledged on the campaign trail to speedily end the Russia-Ukraine war, but Russian leaders said on Monday that Putin’s stipulations had to be met before any resolution would be possible.
Driving the news: Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday during a media conference that U.S.-Russian relations “are balancing on the brink of a breakup,” per NBC News.
• Russian authorities will not end the war until Putin’s terms outlined last year are met, which include Ukraine dropping its NATO ambitions and withdrawing troops from Russian-controlled regions.
• “This is where we are and the sooner U.S., U.K. and others understand it, the better it would be and the closer this desired political solution will be for everyone,” Ryabkov said.
Zoom in: Ryabkov also praised the Trump administration for its interest in talking to Russia about the conflict, according to the Guardian.
Context: Trump told the New York Post in an interview published over the weekend that he had spoken with Putin to negotiate an end to the war, but did not confirm when or how many times.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Sunday he could neither confirm nor deny Trump’s comments, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
• The communication, if confirmed, would be the first officially acknowledged contact between the two since 2022, per NBC News.
• Journalist Bob Woodward reported that Trump and Putin had “maybe as many as seven” conversations since Trump first left the White House in 2021.
Go deeper: Trump says he’s talked with Putin about ending Ukraine war