Kremlin seeks clarification of JD Vance comment on military levers

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday it hoped the U.S. would clarify remarks by Vice President JD Vance that Washington had military as well as economic levers with which to press Russia to agree a good peace deal with Ukraine.

After Washington faced criticism from some European countries over a call this week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vance said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal ahead of the Munich Security Conference that the U.S. had tools it could use to encourage Russia to reach a settlement to end the war.

"There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage" the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said.

Asked about the reference to military levers, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow wanted to know more.

"This was a new element about the (U.S.) position. We have not heard such formulations before, they have not been voiced before," Peskov told reporters.

"So, of course, during the very contacts that we have been talking about, of course, we hope to receive some additional clarification."

Trump said on Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials would meet in Munich on Friday and that Ukraine was also invited, however Kyiv responded that it did not expect to hold talks with Russia in the German city.

Peskov, when asked about Trump's remarks on the presence of Russian officials in Munich, said the Kremlin had nothing new to say about Ukraine peace efforts and that it would take some days to establish diplomatic contacts with the U.S. on Ukraine.

Separately, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Russian officials would not attend the Munich Security Conference because Russia has not been invited to the event which she accused of becoming a "destructive" pro-Ukrainian fixture.

It was not clear however whether Russian officials might still travel to Munich for meetings outside the conference venue with U.S. or other officials.

Ukraine and its European allies are worried that they may be sidelined in negotiations, after Trump and Putin agreed to meet to discuss ways to end the three-year war.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova. Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)