‘Putin wants to meet, we are setting it up,’ says Trump

As the United States is busy preparing for the President-elect’s inauguration at the White House on January 20, Donald Trump has revealed that a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is being set up, but shied from offering a timeline for talks.

The revelation about the upcoming Trump-Putin meet was made by the incoming US President on Thursday evening during interaction with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago club.

Putin ‘wants to meet’

Trump said Putin “wants to meet” and any such meeting, were it to happen, would come after his inauguration as president.

“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump said.

“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,” Trump said about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Why Trump-Putin meet is important

Trump has been persistently saying that he wants to bring the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to a swift end. During his campaign, he has repeatedly pledged to resolve the war within 24 hours.

However, earlier this month, Trump acknowledged that the process might take longer.

The statement by Trump comes amid heightened speculation about the potential for a diplomatic resolution to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 and is now approaching 34 months.

It has, however, led to fears in Ukraine that a quick peace deal could possibly come at a high price for Kyiv.

Trump’s advisors have floated proposals to end the Russia-Ukraine war that would effectively cede large parts of Ukraine to Russia for the foreseeable future.

Amid this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, earlier on Thursday (January 9), said that Putin would welcome Trump’s desire for contact, but so far there have been no formal requests.

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

Last month, Putin had said that he was ready to talk to Trump.

With inputs from agencies.