Yesterday's threats by US President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not end the war in Ukraine soon have caused a stir in Russia, Reuters reported, quoted by bTA.
Some politicians and public figures in Russia took the US leader's words badly.
Reuters notes that at the same time, Trump tried to nuance his threats with a compliment, saying that one should never forget that Russia helped the United States win World War II. He also said that the then Soviet Union lost 60 million people in that war, although according to Russian authorities, the USSR lost 26.6 million people.
Putin and Trump have not yet spoken since the inauguration of the new US president, and given the fact that the new US government is still in its early days, the Kremlin downplayed the US president's threats, saying that it "does not see any new elements" in them.
"We are carefully perceiving all the nuances. We remain ready for dialogue, President Putin has said this more than once - for an equal dialogue based on mutual respect," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov also said that the Soviet Union made the greatest contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany. He also noted that Trump had miscalculated the number of Soviet casualties.
Other Russian officials also weighed in on Trump's statement.
Among them was Konstantin Kosachov, deputy speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament.
"This confirms that his level of understanding of things, the current situation and the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis are approximately at the same level of understanding regarding the course and outcome of World War II," Kosachov said.
Former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov noted that Trump's actions so far suggest that he will not be able to bring peace to Ukraine.
Popular TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov said that Trump's threats are proof that he is an enemy of Russia. "Is this how you talk to Great Russia?", Solovyov angrily asked his audience a rhetorical question.