“He Wants to Meet”: Trump Confirms Setting Up Talks With Putin

US President-elect Donald Trump revealed plans for a potential meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, however, he offered no specific timeline for the talks, according to Reuters on January 10.

“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump said during remarks at a meeting with Republican governors in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

“President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly, and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” he added, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

Under the Biden administration, the United States provided over $175 billion in aid to Ukraine, including $60 billion in security assistance.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed Trump’s intention to initiate talks but noted that no formal requests for a meeting had been made.

“It would be more appropriate to wait for him to take office first,” Peskov said.

Earlier, Keith Kellogg, nominated by US President-elect Donald Trump as special envoy for Ukraine, stated that the president-elect has no intention of making concessions to Putin and is committed to saving Ukraine.