Kremlin: no Ukraine ‘deal’ with US possible

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman is rejecting suggestions that the Kremlin and the Trump Administration may try to negotiate a deal over the war in eastern Ukraine.

Last week saw a surge in fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels. The fighting, which killed more than 30 people, came amid concerns that President Donald Trump’s stated desire to improve relations with Russia could lead to lifting of U.S. sanctions against Russia connected to its interference in Ukraine.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday that Russia wants the United States to pressure Ukraine to fulfil the terms of a two-year-old agreement on ending on the war and that the conflict “can hardly be a subject for some kind of deal.”