Russia's Foreign Minister signaled that Moscow is ready to listen to proposals from US President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers to resolve the war in Ukraine, saying the new US administration "has begun to accept the realities on the ground."
Sergei Lavrov made these statements during an annual press conference on January 14. Even earlier, senior Russian officials have made statements regarding potential proposals for a ceasefire in the conflict, which next month marks its third anniversary.
Trump has said he wants to meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to resolve the war, which has killed more than 1 million troops on both sides.
Russia, whose troops currently control about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, has justified its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, using a variety of justifications, including preventing Kiev from joining the Western military alliance NATO.
"We will wait for specific initiatives. President Putin has said on many occasions that he is ready to meet, but no proposals have been made yet," Lavrov said during a three-hour press conference.
"President Trump also said that Putin wants to meet and he believes they should meet, but first Trump has to take office."
In his final days as US president, Joe Biden has rushed to send billions of dollars in weapons and other equipment to Ukraine, aiming to bolster Kiev's arsenals in case the new Trump administration reduces arms shipments.
In Kiev, Ukrainian officials have also signaled that they are open to listening to Trump's peace proposals.
During an interview with Newsmax on January 13, Trump said that Putin is ready to meet as soon as he is inaugurated as president on January 20.
"I know he wants to meet and I will meet with him very soon," Trump said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters after Lavrov's statements that there was still no agreement on the details of a meeting between Trump and Putin.
Trump's new national security adviser, Mike Walz, has also mentioned a new diplomatic push to resolve the conflict. But he has also signaled that Ukrainian demands for Russia to withdraw from all occupied territories are unlikely to be met.
"I just don't think it's realistic to say that we expel every Russian from every millimeter of Ukrainian territory, even from Crimea," he told ABC News on January 12.
"President Trump has accepted this reality and I think it's been a big step forward that the whole world is accepting this reality. Now, let's move forward."/ REL
(A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
