Ukraine peace talks frozen as Trump warns Putin: Kremlin

Moscow said Friday that peace talks with Ukraine were on pause as US President Donald Trump again warned he was fast running out of patience with his Russian counterpart Vladimir PutinTrumps efforts to bring the threeandahalfyear conflict to an end have faltered in recent weeks with Russia digging into its hardline demands and refusing to halt its ground and aerial attacksThe new standoff came as Russias army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus on NATOs border exercises that have spooked the alliances eastern flank after the downing of Russian drones in Polish airspace this weekThree rounds of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as well as a summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska have failed to make any progress towards ending the fightingMoscows army is grinding forward on the battlefield and Putin has vowed to carry on fighting if his demands for peace including Ukraine ceding yet more land are not metOur negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels But for now it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause in talks with Kyiv Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a telephone briefingYou cant wear rosetinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results he addedTrump has repeatedly threatened Moscow with additional sanctions if it does not halt its offensive but has failed to follow through frustrating KyivIts sort of running out and running out fast but it does take two to tango Trump told the Fox television when asked if his patience was being taxed by Russias refusal to end the conflictIts amazing When Putin wants to do it President Volodymyr Zelensky didnt When Zelensky wanted to do it Putin didnt Now Zelensky wants to and Putin is a question mark Were going to have to come down very very strong he addedUkraine has ruled out making territorial concessions in exchange for a deal and is calling for a PutinZelensky summit to break the deadlockPutin has effectively ruled that out and has issued a threat to target any Western soldiers that might be sent to Kyiv as peacekeepers without his approvalTensions are high across Europe after Poland said Wednesday that 19 Russian drones had flown through its airspace three of which were downed after Warsaw and NATO allies scrambled fighter jetsPolish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was not a mistake that the drones flew over his country rejecting Trumps suggestion it could have been an accidentHe warned earlier this week that Warsaw was closer to open conflict than at any point since World War II over the incidentRussia has denied targeting Poland and said the country had failed to present any evidence the downed drones were RussianBut the Russian and Belarusian Zapad military exercises are also keeping Poland and the Baltic states on high alertRussias defence ministry posted a video Friday showing heavy military equipment including armoured vehicles helicopters and navy ships taking part in the drillsMoscow said its troops would practice aerial reconnaissance and missile strikes on ground targets Ships from the Northern Fleet had also been deployed in the Baltics and Barents seasBoth Moscow and Minsk have rejected accusations they pose a danger despite warnings from Poland the Baltics and ZelenskyPoland said around 40000 troops would be stationed near the border with Belarus for the duration of the drills while Lithuania and Latvia announced partial airspace closuresNATO on Friday sought to downplay concerns with a spokesman saying it did not see any immediate military threat against any NATO allyPart of the exercises takes place in Belaruss Grodno region which borders both Poland and Lithuania Minsk saidBelarus had said in January that 13000 troops would be involved but in May it said the number was to be cut by around halfOn the battlefield Russia claimed to have captured another small settlement in Ukraines central Dnipropetrovsk regionMoscow also accused Kyiv of targeting a nuclear plant in an overnight drone attackThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever