The Kremlin on Monday rejected comments by US President Donald Trump that described Russia as a "paper tiger" and said President Vladimir Putin appreciated his efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is a bear, not a tiger, "but there is no such thing as a paper bear".
"President Putin still appreciates Trump's willingness to help, Trump's willingness to work together to find a solution," Peskov added.
He specified that there were no concrete plans for another phone call between the US and Russian presidents, but one could be organized at any moment.
Russia continues its special military operation to guarantee a peaceful present and future for generations to come, the Kremlin spokesman also said.
"We are continuing our special military operation so that we can secure our interests and achieve those goals that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President of our country (Vladimir) Putin set from the very beginning. And we are doing this for the present of our country, for the future of our country, and for many generations to come", he said.
Peskov said that the Russian head of state had repeatedly proposed resolving the root cause of the conflict in Ukraine, but the United States and Europe had given an unequivocal negative answer.
"He (Putin) proposed this to the Americans - before the (Joe) Biden administration and even before Biden - he also proposed it to (Barack) Obama. "We remember that this was in 2007. He offered it to everyone, he offered it to the whole world. But we heard firm refusals from the Americans to talk about this topic," the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.