Russia still expects U.S. President Donald Trump to conclude a peace agreement in Ukraine acceptable to the Russian side, although it is ready to continue the war if the negotiations fail, Bloomberg said, citing sources in Moscow.

"The Kremlin is unconcerned by Trump's threat to slap punitive secondary sanctions on Russian oil over the lack of progress toward a ceasefire, the people said. Still, President Vladimir Putin realizes that Trump represents his best chance of bringing the war to an end and wants to continue diplomacy, they said, asking not to be identified discussing internal policy," the publication said.

The Kremlin is demanding more concessions from the United States, including easing sanctions and suspending arms shipments to Ukraine. When talks with the United States last month in Saudi Arabia led to a deal on a moratorium on attacks on Black Sea shipping, Russia announced it was making the deal conditional on one of its largest state-owned banks being reconnected to the international SWIFT messaging system.

Trump aides, including his special envoy Steve Witkoff, have expressed optimism about progress in talks with Russia. The White House's goal was to reach a ceasefire deal by April 20, which now seems unlikely, and the talks about a possible summit between Trump and Putin have recently died down.

Russia was among the few countries excluded from Trump's tariff announcement on Wednesday, although Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later told Fox News that was because the sanctions had severed trade ties. The United States imposed a 10% tariff on Ukraine.