Kremlin: If Trump desires to speak, Putin is able to hear

Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to the idea of direct, personal talks with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, though no talks have been formally scheduled, the Kremlin said Friday.

Mr. Trump, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, told reporters before a meeting with Republican governors at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence Thursday evening that the Russian president had already reached out with an offer for direct talks. President Biden is not known to have spoken to Mr. Putin since Russia launched its invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.

Mr. Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Mr. Trump contended, offering no details on when such a meeting would take place.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was more circumspect, telling reporters at a briefing in Moscow that Mr. Putin would welcome a meeting but that no request from the U.S. side had been received.

“There are still no specifics,” Mr. Peskov said, according to the official Tass news agency. “We proceed from the mutual readiness for such meetings.”

The Kremlin spokesman added that “no conditions are required” for the presidential-level negotiations. “What is required is mutual desire and political will to solve problems through dialogue. … Apparently, there will be some movements in this direction after Trump enters the [the White House.]”

The president-elect has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration’s strong military and financial backing of Ukraine in the war, and has said he can quickly negotiate a ceasefire and peace deal once in office. Russian forces still control about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory in the south and east, and Mr. Putin has annexed four eastern regions of Ukraine since the fighting began.

Other Western leaders have held direct telephone conversations with Mr. Putin in recent months, with both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaking with the Russian leader at length in November.

Retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, named to be Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Ukraine war, said this week on Fox News that Mr. Biden’s “biggest mistake” in the conflict has been his refusal to talk directly with Mr. Putin.

“That is one thing that [Mr. Trump] does — he talks to adversaries and allies a lot,” Gen. Kellogg said. “And he knows it’s a tough [conversation], but he knows that you need to talk to people, and that’s what he is going to do.”

“I think they will come to a solvable solution in the near term,” he added. ” When I say near term, I would like to set a goal on a personal level, on a professional level, I would say 100 days and move back.”