Moscow, 4 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Russia on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with reports of the suspension of US military aid to Ukraine, saying it could lead to a peace process.

According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "we have yet to figure out the details but if it's true, then this is a decision that really can push the Kiev regime towards a peace process."

Russia has repeatedly accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of having no interest in peace negotiations and preferring to continue the war, started by Moscow in February 2022. US President Donald Trump recently echoed the Russian argument, to the dismay of other Western states.

Zelensky has consistently emphasized his desire to end the war. He has however insisted on security guarantees - especially from the United States, which Washington, under the Trump administration, has so far been unwilling to provide.

Trump announced on Monday that the US administration is temporarily suspending its military aid to Ukraine, which has been under attack from Russia for more than three years. The White House stated Trump had made it "unambiguously clear" that the president's "focus is on peace."

It comes after the Trump administration launched bilateral talks with Moscow last month to negotiate an end to the conflict, as well as potentially normalizing ties between the two nations which have been strained since before the war.

Peskov on Tuesday stressed the need for Washington to lift sanctions imposed on Russia before the relationship could be restored.

"We consider them to be illegal," the Kremlin spokesman said of the punitive measures, some of which were implemented during Trump's first term, before being substantially expanded amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow is particularly keen on ending sanctions on its financial sector.

Russia has also suggested resuming flight traffic with the US, after both countries closed their airspace to the other side following the beginning of the Ukraine war.

Peskov also reiterated criticism for an EU debate on using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, warning such a move would have negative effects on the investment climate in the bloc by signalling to investors that assets could be subject to unlawful confiscation.

On Monday, Peskov announced Moscow would take legal action against such a move.

Photo: EPA