"Putin is ready": Russia sends message to Trump over Ukraine war and nuclear disarmament 24 January 2025
Moscow, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin is waiting for a "signal" from his counterpart Donald Trump to kick-start talks on ending the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to start talks with his US counterpart Donald Trump over nuclear disarmament and ending the Ukraine war.
© REUTERS
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists: "Putin is ready. We are waiting for signals" from the US.
Putin and the newly inaugurated American president have both said they are willing to meet for talks on Ukraine.
Trump has threatened Russia with tougher economic sanctions if Moscow does not agree to end the conflict.
Peskov said that he could not comment further on a meeting between the leaders, saying it was "hard to read coffee grounds" to predict the future.
He also rejected a claim from Trump that the conflict in Ukraine could be ended by lowering the price Russia receives for its oil, saying: "This conflict does not depend on oil prices."
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Trump said that he would ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower oil prices, saying: "If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately."
Peskov said the conflict was instead based on "threats to Russia's national security" and "threats to Russians" living in Ukraine and "the lack of desire and complete refusal of Americans and Europeans to listen to Russia's concerns."
Poster Comment:
We need to face some clear facts and that is Ukraine has hit a large Russian oil refinery with drones and taken it offline. This is causing a big headache for the Kremlin.