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The Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet Donald Trump, but has not yet agreed on a date after the US President-elect said the two sides were preparing for a possible summit.
The statements of Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, came after Trump answered questions about a possible meeting with the Kremlin. Putin “We are preparing it,” he said, adding that he would prefer to wait until after his inauguration on January 20.
“President Putin has repeatedly declared his openness to contacts with international partners, including the US President and Donald Trump,” Interfax news agency quoted Peskov as telling the press.
He added: “It appears that some progress will be made after Mr. Trump takes over the Oval Office.”
Outgoing US President Joe Biden cut off direct contact with Putin after Russia began a large-scale operation Invasion of Ukraine In 2022.
In response to a question about the possibility of holding a summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida or elsewhere, he said: Trump “President Putin wants to meet — he's even said so publicly — and we have to end that (Ukraine) war, it's a bloody mess,” he said after a meeting with Republican governors on Thursday.
The president-elect described the death toll as “astonishing” and added: “It is a war that I will try to stop as quickly as possible.”
In a retreat from his campaign pledge to end the war within 24 hours, Trump indicated this week that six months was a more realistic goal for ending hostilities.
European leaders and officials are making clear to the president-elect and his team that continued U.S. military aid is necessary to put Kiev in a stronger position for peace talks and help bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
According to a former senior Kremlin official and another person who has discussed the issue with the Russian president, Putin's main goal in any talks is New security agreements To ensure that Ukraine never joins NATO and the US-led military coalition withdraws from some deployments in the east.
He added: “He wants to change the rules of the international system so that there are no threats to Russia.” “He is very concerned about how the world will look after the war,” the former Kremlin official said. “Trump wants to roll back NATO anyway. “The world is changing, anything can happen.”
Western officials, including NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, are seeking to stress the importance of Trump ensuring “peace through strength” in Ukraine, and avoiding a defeat for Kiev that would embolden Putin and his allies in China, Iran and North Korea.