Russia has given its first response to Donald Trump’s ultimatum calling on Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks or see his Ukraine invasion end “the hard way”.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said: “We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’”

The US president said he would be forced to put “high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions” on anything sold by Russia if Putin refused to negotiate an end to his war.

In its initial response, the Kremlin insisted it saw nothing particularly new in Mr Trump’s threat of sanctions, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov insisting that Moscow was ready for an equal and mutually respectful dialogue with the US.

It came as Western officials claimed that some 4,000 of the estimated 11,000 North Korean troops sent to fight alongside Russia had been killed or wounded in just three months of fighting.

Key Points

• Donald Trump issues ultimatum to Vladimir Putin over Ukraine war
• Kremlin responds to Trump’s threat of further sanctions
• Putin ‘believes war goals in Ukraine have been met’, Kremlin source claims
• Around 1,000 North Koreans killed in Kursk fighting Ukraine, officials say
• Putin ‘suffers 1,340 casualties’ as 115 clashes reported in latest frontline update

Russian forces claim control of Donetsk village

Russia’s defence ministry claims to have seized control of the Donetsk village of Solone, the Tass news agency reported.

The claims could not be immediately verified, and Russia has frequently claimed control over villages it is yet to capture.

Kremlin responds to Trump’s new threat over Ukraine

The Kremlin has claimed that it saw nothing particularly new in a threat by US president Donald Trump to hit Russia with new sanctions and tariffs if it did not agree to end the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Mr Trump had often applied sanctions against Russia in his first term as president.

Mr Peskov said that Russia was ready for an equal and mutually respectful dialogue with the US.

In his remarks on Wednesday calling on Russia to end “this ridiculous war”, Mr Trump had said: “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Most available parts of the Russian economy are already under heavy US sanctions.

Earlier, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy had warned that Moscow would have to see what Trump thinks a “deal” to end the war in Ukraine actually means, adding that for the Kremlin it is “first and foremost the question of addressing root causes of Ukrainian crisis.”