New Delhi, Sept. 8 -- The Kremlin on Monday (September 8) dismissed the prospect of tougher Western sanctions, vowing that no amount of economic pressure would alter its stance in Ukraine.

"No sanctions will be able to force the Russian Federation to change the consistent position that our president has repeatedly spoken about," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporter Alexander Yunashev.

Peskov, who also serves as deputy chief of staff, argued that Western measures had "turned out to be absolutely useless in terms of exerting pressure on Russia."

US President Donald Trump, who has previously set deadlines for the Kremlin to change course, said on Sunday that he was ready to move to "the second phase" of sanctions.

"Yeah, I am," ...