By Dmitry Antonov MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in its favour, signalling no shift in his stance despite a looming sanctions deadline from Washington.

Donald Trump seems to have come up with a new strategy to force Vladimir Putin into ending the Ukraine war: going after Russia’s allies. The American president has said he wants to discourage Moscow’s allies from buying its oil to disrupt Russia’s economy – a move, he claimed, would end the conflict.