President-elect Donald Trump has said a meeting is being set up with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that he would try and stop the war in Ukraine, “as quickly as I can.”
Speaking before a dinner on Thursday evening with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said, “[Putin] wants to meet, and we are setting it up.”
Trump gave no further details about where or when the meeting might be, or what might be on the agenda.
He said there had also been “a lot of communications” with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and added: “We have a lot of meetings set up with a lot of people. Some have come, but I'd rather wait until after the 20th.”
Trump said it was “to be determined” whether there would be a summit with both Putin and Xi.
Ukraine War ‘Bloody Mess’
On Thursday he said: “We have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess. Soldiers are being killed by the millions.”
“I looked at some very graphic pictures yesterday. It’s a flat field. The only thing that stops a bullet is a body. It’s a very very flat land and the soldiers are fighting but they are dying by the hundreds of thousands. Not to mention the towns and the cities which are largely demolished,” he added.
Trump said he thought the final death toll from the war would be an “unpleasant surprise” and he said, “It’s much higher than the press is reporting.”
He described the number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dying every day as “staggering.”
Trump said, “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.”
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had previously stated he was open to meeting Trump and there should be progress after the inauguration.
Peskov said: “No conditions are required for this, [only] a mutual desire and political will to conduct a dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue is required.”
“We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue, we welcome this,” he added.
Putin Offered ‘Compromises’
Last month Putin said he was willing to make “compromises” over Ukraine, but said Russia was in a strong position and the military was “advancing” toward achieving its goals.Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022, but its initial plan to capture the capital Kyiv and overthrow the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy failed.
Russia—which had already occupied and annexed Crimea in 2014—has conquered big chunks of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine but the Ukrainian forces have put up dogged resistance, despite being outmanned and outgunned.
Zelenskyy floated a “victory plan” last year but Trump appears to favor a negotiated settlement, possibly with territory ceded by Ukraine to Russia.
Another key demand of Moscow is for Ukraine’s application to join NATO to be withdrawn.
While Ukraine is likely to be the most pressing item on the agenda, the pair would also have a great deal to discuss regarding trade, international affairs and their relations with China.
President Joe Biden has committed $175 billion in aid to Ukraine, including more than $60 billion in security assistance.
Trump has been heavily critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict.
Trump made the comments during a brief press conference before the dinner with 22 of the 27 Republican governors.
One of those in attendance at the dinner, Greg Gianforte, the GOP governor of Montana, said he was looking forward to a, “collaborative, working relationship, which we have not had for four years.”
