President-elect Donald Trump has expressed readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with efforts underway to arrange the meeting, though no timeline has been provided.
“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump told reporters late Thursday during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. He added, “He has said that even publicly, and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” referring to Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Trump has pledged to quickly end the conflict once he takes office this month.
The Kremlin confirmed Friday that it is open to a Trump-Putin meeting, although no details have been finalized. “If, after taking office, the political will to resume contacts at the highest level remains, then of course President Putin will only welcome this,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
There was no immediate response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Joe Biden has committed significant aid to Ukraine. Trump’s potential return to the White House has sparked hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the nearly three-year conflict, but concerns remain about the terms of any peace agreement, particularly its impact on Ukraine.
Trump has been critical of continued U.S. support for Ukraine and some of his advisers, including Keith Kellogg, whom he has appointed as his special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, have suggested proposals for ending the war that could involve Ukraine ceding large territories to Russia.
Trump has frequently emphasized his good relationship with Putin, suggesting that it could help resolve the war “in 24 hours,” though he acknowledged this week that six months might be a more realistic timeframe.
During his first term, Trump and Putin met at least five times at summits in locations such as Finland and Vietnam.
