I’d meet with Putin immediately – Trump
US President Donald Trump has said 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.
“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. “Every day we don’t meet, soldiers are being killed on the battlefield.”
TheKremlin previously said it was open to such talks. Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied that a Putin-Trump phone call was in the works.
Trump has reportedly given 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 has also demanded that Kiev renounce its claims to 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.
