The Kremlin on Tuesday said that Russia was continuing its dialogue with the United States amid threats by President Donald Trump to levy secondary sanctions on Russian oil if Moscow does not work to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump, who said this week that he was pissed off with Russian President Vladimir Putin while speaking with reporters on Monday, said he wanted to see the Kremlin leader make a deal to stop the full-scale conflict, now in its fourth year.

“I want to see him make a deal so that we stop Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers and other people from being killed. I want to make sure that he follows through, and I think he will,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

The US president, a day earlier, had said he was very angry after Putin last week criticised the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership and would consider putting secondary sanctions on Russian oil if he felt Moscow was blocking a peace deal with Ukraine.

When asked about Trump’s latest remarks about wanting Putin to do a deal on Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were continuing their contacts with the American side.

“The subject is very complex. The substance that we are discussing, related to the Ukrainian settlement, is very complex. This requires a lot of extra effort,” he said.

The Republican, before the weekend, had adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that had left Western allies wary as he tried to broker an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia has so far publicly responded cautiously to Trump’s overtures, agreeing to pause its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure if Kyiv does the same.

Meanwhile, both sides accused each other of violating the moratorium.

Russia, Ukraine War Sanctions: We’re still talking to US – Kremlin