MOSCOW (AFP) — The Kremlin on Wednesday said it had no choice but to continue its military offensive on Ukraine, as Moscow rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that Russia was a “paper tiger.”

The comments come a day after Trump said Ukraine could win back all of its territory from Russia, which he characterized as a “paper tiger” with a failing economy — a major pivot in his stance on the three-and-a-half-year conflict.  

“We are continuing our special military operation to ensure our interests and achieve the goals,” set by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, using Moscow’s term for its assault on Ukraine.

“We are doing this for both the present and the future of our country. For many generations to come. Therefore, we have no alternative,” he added in a radio interview with a Russian newspaper.

He also pushed back against Trump’s “paper tiger” remark, but conceded the economy — slowing after three years of rapid growth and with stubborn inflation — was facing some headwinds.

“Russia maintains its macroeconomic stability,” Peskov said, adding: “Yes, Russia is experiencing tensions and problems in various sectors of the economy.”

The Kremlin also offered a downbeat assessment of wider efforts to boost relations between Moscow and Washington.

A rapprochement ushered in when Trump returned to the White House in January has yielded “close to zero” results, Peskov said.

“This track is sluggish, very sluggish,” he said of the efforts to reset ties.

Moscow has sought to cast negotiations with the US as broader than just the Ukraine conflict, trying to promote possible economic and diplomatic cooperation between the two nuclear powers.