Trump Announces Efforts to Arrange Meeting with Putin Amid Ukraine War Tensions

Former US President Donald Trump has confirmed that discussions are underway to arrange a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, although he did not provide a specific timeline for when the meeting would occur.

At his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump told reporters, “He wants to meet and we are setting it up.” However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency Tass that the US has yet to formally request the meeting.

Trump, who is set to take office as president again on January 20, 2025, has pledged to pursue negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing war in Ukraine. He has expressed skepticism regarding continued US military and financial support for Kyiv.

“President Putin wants to meet,” Trump remarked on Thursday. “He has said that even publicly, and we have to get that war over with. It’s a bloody mess.”

In preparation for his second administration, Trump has nominated Keith Kellogg, a former national security adviser and retired US Army lieutenant general, as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.

Kellogg previously outlined his approach to resolving the war in a paper published by the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank, suggesting that Ukraine should only receive additional US aid if it engages in peace talks with Russia. However, Kellogg also proposed that the US should continue supporting Ukraine if Moscow refuses to participate in discussions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a statement following Trump’s election victory in November, expressed optimism that the war might end sooner with Trump in office. Zelensky mentioned a “constructive exchange” with Trump over the phone but did not provide details on any potential demands for peace talks with Russia.