INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine on Thursday announced evacuations of children from several towns in the northeastern Kharkiv region threatened by Russian forces, as
Moscow said it saw nothing new in U.S
President Donald Trump's call for it to end its invasion.The evacuation announcement came as the Kremlin said that while it was ready for
"mutually respectful dialogue" with Trump, his declarations on the conflict marked no break with the previous U.S
administration.Trump on Wednesday threatened fresh sanctions on Moscow if Russia did not strike a deal to end the military campaign against
Ukraine, which he called "ridiculous."But on the ground in northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Syniehubov said "267 children
and their families are to be evacuated from 16 settlements to safe places."Syniehubov said the towns and villages affected are near
Kupiansk, a town that Russia has tried to capture for months where fighting is raging around its outskirts.Outnumbered Ukrainian forces are
struggling to hold back a better-resourced Russian army across a long front line."The decision was made due to the intensified hostile
We urge families with minors to save their lives and leave the dangerous areas," Syniehubov said on social media.He earlier said a
54-year-old woman was killed in a Russian attack on a village near Kupiansk.Kyiv also said that Russian air attacks had killed at least
three others and wounded dozens in other frontline towns.'Waiting for signals'Expectations are high that Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Trump will soon hold a phone call to discuss the conflict, after the Republican pledged on the campaign trail to bring a swift end to
the fighting.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was "ready for equal, mutually respectful dialogue.""We are waiting for signals,
which we have not yet received," he added.Russia also said it considered the policies of Joe Biden's administration "criminal," calling on
Trump to "correct" them.Trump has not said publicly how he sees the contours of a potential peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.Putin has
outlined maximalist demands that include the Ukrainian withdrawal from parts of its own territory still under Kyiv's control.Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky has meanwhile ruled out territorial concessions, though he has said he would consider trying to secure the
return of land captured by Russia through "diplomatic" means.Kyiv is also demanding security guarantees from NATO and the United States
along with the deployment of Western, including American, peacekeeping troops.Sanctions threatIn a post on Truth Social, Trump on Wednesday
told Putin to make a deal "now" and threatened "high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions" on Moscow.Trump said he was "not looking to
hurt Russia" and had "always had a very good relationship with President Putin," a leader for whom he has expressed admiration in the
past."All of that being said, I'm going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR
Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE," he said.Asked about the comments on Thursday, Peskov said the
Kremlin did not see anything "particularly new" in Trump's threat of sanctions.He said it was clear from Trump's first presidency that the
Republican "liked" sanctions, adding that Moscow was "closely following" all of his statements.The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed the
barrage of Western sanctions that it has been hit with since ordering troops into Ukraine in February 2022.The Russian economy has largely
defied Western hopes the restrictions would push it into economic collapse.Peskov on Thursday conceded that Russia faced economic "problems"
the battlefield in recent months, while both Moscow and Kyiv have increased their aerial attacks deep behind the front lines.Moscow's army
on Thursday claimed to have captured another small settlement in the eastern Donetsk region, which Russia declared to have annexed in 2022.
