Moscow, Jan 15 (IANS) The Kremlin said Thursday that it is necessary and important to continue its dialogue with the United States on Ukraine.

Commenting on the possible visit of US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and entrepreneur Jared Kushner to Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia expects such a visit to take place as soon as the dates are agreed upon.

Peskov said Moscow agrees with US President Donald Trump’s comment that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is holding back the peace process, adding that the situation for Ukraine is worsening daily as its decision-making corridor is narrowing, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump told the media on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal, while Ukraine is less ready to do so. Asked why US-led negotiations had not yet resolved the conflict, Trump responded: “Zelensky.”

Meanwhile, Peskov said Russia has not yet received a response from the United States to Russia’s initiative to extend the arms restrictions established by the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for another year.

Signed by Russia and the United States in 2010, the New START treaty imposes caps on the number of deployed nuclear warheads and strategic delivery systems. It remains the only active nuclear arms control agreement between the two nuclear superpowers.

In February 2021, Moscow and Washington extended the treaty by an additional five years to February 2026.

In September, Putin said Russia is prepared to continue observing the treaty if the United States was willing to do the same.

–IANS

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