The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia remained open to a meeting between President Vladimir V. Putin and President-elect Donald J. Trump, but that any concrete steps to establish such talks could only be made if Mr. Trump was sworn in on January 20.
Responding to comments made on Thursday by Mr. Trump, who said Mr Putin wanted to meet him to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman also confirmed Russia’s official position that Moscow is ready to talk.
“We need mutual desire and political will to participate in negotiations,” Dmitri S. Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters. “We see that Mr. Trump also announced that he is ready to solve problems through negotiations. We welcome that.”
Mr. Peskov added that it is the Kremlin’s understanding that there is “readiness for a meeting,” but, he said, “it seems that things will begin to move after Trump enters the Oval Office.”
Mr. Peskov did not confirm that Mr. Putin requested a meeting with Mr. Trump or whether it is suspended, as Mr. Trump on Thursday night.
While asserting its territorial claim over its five regions in Ukraine, the Kremlin has always insisted it would prefer to talk war.
Ukraine and some of its Western allies have questioned Russia’s seriousness in offering to negotiate, and say the Kremlin’s conditions actually represent the need for Ukraine’s annexation.
After being largely isolated from the West for almost three years since the invasion of Ukraine, the meeting with the US president will represent an opportunity for Mr.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, without saying how, but this week suggested it could take six months.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he sympathized with Russia’s position that Ukraine should never join NATO, which is one of the main conditions set by the Kremlin to end the war.
The victory of Mr. Trump in November signaled a wave of hope that the war could end soon, even if the volatile ceasefire would be halted. But analysts said the process would be difficult and tedious, and many in Ukraine and elsewhere fear that Mr.
In Russia, Giorgy Bovt, a political analyst, said that if the meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr.
“Both warring sides are still betting on continued military action,” Mr Bovt wrote in a post on Telegram, a popular messaging app. “They don’t think their power is gone.”
Tatiana Stanovaya, executive director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote on social media that “high expectations” at the meeting are “very dangerous in the game, especially for Trump.”
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