Vladimir Putin’s mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov fired a warning as European nations issued Russia with an ultimatum; agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire by Monday or face more sanctions.
Sir Keir Starmer warned Moscow will be hit with “new and massive” sanctions unless it commits to the proposal which has been agreed by European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. But Mr Peskov dismissed the threat and looked to remind people that sanctions would not be able to “isolate” Russia which is the world’s biggest country in terms of land. The Kremlin spokesperson said: “It is very difficult to isolate a country like Russia because we take a very large part of the globe. But this is not the main thing.
“The main thing is that Russia actively develops relations with a large number of countries in all directions where they have interest in developing cooperation with our country. And we will continue doing so.”
Sir Keir, along with the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, visited Mr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss the ceasefire.
The 30-day pause on fighting would start on Monday and extend across the air, sea and land.
The five European leaders held a phonecall with US President Donald Trump who backed the plans.
The British Prime Minister said European allies “together with the US” are “calling Putin out”.
Speaking in the Ukrainian capital, Sir Keir vowed allies will “ramp up sanctions” if the Russian President “turns his back on peace”.
“No more ifs and buts, no more conditions and delays,” he said.
But the Kremlin has accused the European leaders of making “contradictory” statements.
Mr Peskov said: “They are generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations. Nothing more.”
He was later quoted by a state-run Russian news agency as saying: “We have to think this through. But trying to pressure us is quite useless.”
Russia declared a three-day ceasefire to coincide with celebrations marking the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.
Ukraine has accused Russia of violating the ceasefire which Kyiv’s foreign minister described as a “farce”.