The Kremlin said Friday that Russia remains open to a meeting between President Vladimir V. Putin and President-elect Donald J. He said this is possible only after taking office. January 20th.
On Thursday, in response to Trump's comments that Putin wanted to meet with Trump to discuss the Ukraine war, a Kremlin spokesman reaffirmed Russia's long-standing official position that the Kremlin is open to dialogue. did.
“We need a mutual desire and political will for dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told reporters. “We see that Mr. Trump has also declared his readiness to resolve issues through dialogue, and we welcome that.”
Peskov said he understood that the Kremlin had “mutual preparations for talks,” but added: “It seems like things will start moving after Trump enters the Oval Office.”
Peskov did not confirm that Putin had requested a meeting with Trump or that one had been set up, as Trump said Thursday night.
The Kremlin has asserted its territorial claims to five regions in Ukraine, while insisting it prioritizes diplomacy over war.
Ukraine and some Western allies have questioned the seriousness of Russia's offer to negotiate, saying the Kremlin's terms actually represent a demand for Ukraine to surrender.
For Putin, who has been largely isolated from the West for almost three years since the invasion of Ukraine, the meeting with the U.S. president would be a chance to negotiate with a more friendly U.S. administration.
Trump has repeatedly said the Russia-Ukraine war could be resolved within 24 hours of taking office, but he has not said how, although this week he suggested it could take up to six months. .
Trump said at a news conference Tuesday that he sympathizes with Russia's position that Ukraine should never join NATO, one of the Kremlin's key conditions for ending the war.
Trump's victory in November generated a wave of cautious optimism that the war could soon end, even with a fragile ceasefire. But analysts say the process will be difficult and tedious, and many in Ukraine and other countries fear Mr. Trump may want to force a deal at the expense of surrender. I am doing it.
In Russia, political analyst Gyorgy Bobt said a meeting between Trump and Putin too soon “could lead to further escalation” as “the conditions for peace are not yet mature”.
“Both warring parties remain betting on the continuation of military operations,” Bobt said in a post on the popular messaging app Telegram. “They don't think their forces are depleted.”
Tatyana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center, wrote on social media that “the higher the expectations” from the meeting, “the more risky the game becomes, above all for Trump.”
