Russia is "very closely monitoring all the rhetoric" from Washington, a Kremlin spokesperson said, after President Donald Trump threatened to impose new sanctions unless Russia ends its war against Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it saw nothing particularly new in a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to hit Russia with new sanctions and tariffs if it did not agree to end the war in Ukraine. Referring to Russia and the war,

Russia has hiked defence spending to a post-Soviet high of 6.3% of GDP this year, accounting for a third of budget expenditure. The spending has been inflationary. Along with wartime labour shortages, it has driven wages higher.