The Kremlin said Russian president Vladimir Putin is willing to meet Donald Trump after he returns to the White House, and noted growing “disagreements” among western states over future support for Kyiv.
Ukraine and its closest allies worry that US backing for the country will be slashed or even stopped after Mr Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, and fear his promised push to bring a swift end to Europe’s biggest war in 80 years will favour Russia’s autocratic leader, for whom he has expressed admiration several times.
“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,” Mr Trump said on Thursday, without providing where and when such talks could take place.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there were “no specific details yet” but there was “mutual readiness for a meeting”.
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“President Putin has consistently stated his openness to engagement with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” he added. “No special conditions are needed for this. What is required is the mutual intent and political will to hold a dialogue and address existing issues through dialogue.”
European states such as Hungary and Slovakia, which favour a rapprochement with Mr Putin and criticise support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, believe their position will start to prevail in the West once Mr Trump is back in power.
“We see that contradictions are growing there, and we see that many disagreements are emerging over the prospects and modalities of providing further assistance [and] its effectiveness,” Mr Peskov said of the West.
[ The Irish Times view on Ukraine: what happens when the guns go silent?Opens in new window ]
Mr Putin says Ukraine must accept the permanent occupation of five regions – including areas not controlled by Moscow – and give up any hope of joining Nato.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week that he is ready to meet Mr Trump to discuss the security guarantees that his country believes are essential to ensure that Russia does not use a pause in fighting to rearm and launch new attacks. Once those guarantees are agreed, he would be ready to talk to Mr Putin, he added.
Mr Zelenskiy attended a meeting in Germany on Thursday of defence officials from more than 50 states that provide military support to Kyiv, and urged them not to abandon those efforts when Mr Trump returns to power.
“We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defence coalitions we’ve created,” he said, adding that countries present pledged a further $2 billion (€1.94 billion) in military aid to Ukraine.
Separately, Kyiv said Norway had allocated €2 billion in military support for Ukraine this year.
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