Kremlin says Trump circle talking about a peace deal for Ukraine as Biden escalates

The Kremlin said on Monday it had noted that President-elect Donald Trump's circle was speaking about a potential peace plan for Ukraine while the current US administration of Joe Biden was not and was seeking to escalate the conflict instead.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made his remarks after being asked to comment on an interview that Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for national security adviser, gave to Fox News on Sunday.

Waltz said that Trump had been "very concerned" about an escalation in fighting between Russia and Ukraine and that the war must be brought "to a responsible end".

Waltz noted what he said was the involvement of North Korea and Iran in the conflict, Russia's use of a hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine, a decision by some Western countries to let Kyiv fire their missiles deep into Russia, and said South Korea was considering whether to get involved too.

"What we need to be discussing is who's at that table, whether it's an agreement, an armistice, how to get both sides to the table, and then what's the framework of a deal," Waltz said.

Moscow says the terms reflect reality on the battlefield where Russian forces have been advancing. But Ukraine says such terms would amount to an unacceptable capitulation for Kyiv.