The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia did not think peace talks on Ukraine have stalled despite Donald Trump's remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin and Washington's resumption of some weapons to Ukraine.

The Kremlin expressed its continued desire for peaceful negotiations with Ukraine, dismissing concerns that talks have stalled. Moscow awaits Kyiv's readiness to begin a third round of discussions, which initially started in May in Istanbul.

The Kremlin, asked on Wednesday about U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Moscow was "calm" regarding the criticism, and that it would continue to try to fix a "broken" U.

The Kremlin's grip on the Russian elite appears to be closing ever tighter as two major figures of Russian business and security structures were detained in the past few days. Konstantin Strukov, a billionaire running a gold mining empire,

On July 1, former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was convicted on charges of embezzlement and money laundering and sentenced to 13 years in prison in a high-profile case that exposed rampant military corruption widely blamed for Moscow’s military setbacks in Ukraine.

Russia’s transport minister allegedly shot himself in the head on Monday just hours after President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from his post, investigators said.

Unlike before, when you could get these jobs, get rich, get promoted from regional level to federal level, today, that is clearly not a career path if you want to stay alive,” Nina Khrushcheva told the BBC.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it would take time to clarify what weapons the United States is supplying and will supply to Ukraine after President Donald Trump said Washington would have to send more arms to Kyiv.