Russian President Vladimir Putin on Jan. 20 congratulated Donald Trump on becoming the 47th president of the United States and said he looks forward to talks on the Ukraine war that would lead to lasting peace rather than just a temporary cease-fire.
“We congratulate Donald Trump on entering the office,” Putin said during a meeting of Russia’s Security and Defense Council.
“Moscow is open for dialog with the United States that will be built on an equal and mutually respectful basis.”
He said Russia is open to talks with the new administration on a range of issues, including the Russia–Ukraine conflict, nuclear weapons, and security more broadly.
Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine quickly, saying he would leverage his personal relationship with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to bring both men to the table to work out a peace deal.
“That’s a war that would have never happened if I had been president, and it’s a war I’m going to try and stop as quickly as I can,” Trump said during a Jan. 9 dinner with GOP governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Condemning the “staggering” loss of life in the Russia–Ukraine conflict, Trump declared: “We have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.”
“The most important thing there is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, which we have talked about many times. This is the most essential thing,” he said.
The Russian leader added that the goal of the talks “should not be a brief cease-fire, not some kind of period of respite that would allow a regrouping and rearmament of forces, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people and all peoples who live in the region.”
While Trump has pledged to bring an end to the hostilities, he has offered few specifics about his plan. The president has appointed retired Gen. Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Kellogg’s recommendations for ending the conflict include a formal cease-fire, sanctions relief for Russia to ensure compliance, and bilateral defense agreements to secure Ukraine’s long-term security.
Putin’s demands to end hostilities include Ukrainian troop withdrawals from contested regions, Ukraine’s adoption of a neutral status, “demilitarization” of the country, and the lifting of Western sanctions.
During his final months in office, President Joe Biden surged military aid to Ukraine, saying that this would put Kyiv in the strongest possible position on the frontlines and give it the most leverage in the peace talks.
During his remarks at Monday’s Security and Defense Council meeting, Putin said he welcomed Trump’s willingness to restore direct communication with Russia and praised his focus on preventing a global conflict.
“We also hear his statement about the need to do everything possible to prevent World War Three,” Putin said. “We, of course, welcome this attitude and congratulate the elected president of the United States of America on taking office.”
Amid the war in Ukraine, ties between Washington and Moscow have fallen to their lowest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
