The US president claimed that his Russian counterpart “would like to see” him
US President Donald Trump has said that he is ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as quickly as possible to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict.
Trump, who took office on Monday, has repeatedly pledged to quickly negotiate a settlement between Russia and Ukraine, and said that he was open to having a conversation with Putin.
“From what I hear, Putin would like to see me, and we’ll leave as soon as we can. I’d meet immediately,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “Everyday we don’t meet, soldiers are being killed [on] the battlefield.”
TheKremlin has said in the past that it was open to potential talks between the leaders. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied to reporters earlier this week that a phone call was in the works.
Trump reportedly gave his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, 100 days to hammer out a settlement between Moscow and Kiev. On Wednesday, the US president threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia if Putin refuses to accept an unspecified “deal” to end the conflict.
“Such dialogue between the two presidents had occurred during Trump’s first term,” Peskov said, adding that the Kremlin “has not received [such] signals so far.”
Russia has insisted that Ukraine must abandon its plan to join the US-led NATO alliance in favor of becoming a neutral country. Putin also demanded that Kiev renounced its claims on Crimea and four other regions that have voted to leave Ukraine and become part of Russia.
Speaking to Bloomberg on Wednesday, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky argued that communication with Kiev should be “a priority” for the Trump administration. He added that he was open to negotiations if Trump could provide tangible “security guarantees” to Ukraine.
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