Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he is ready for negotiations with US counterpart Donald Trump as Kyiv warned that Ukraine and Europe must be at the table for any talks that could affect them.
“Most likely it would really be best for us to meet. Based on current realities to talk calmly about all those areas that are of interest to both the United States and Russia. We are ready,” Mr Putin told Russian state media on Friday.
“We have always said...that we are ready for such negotiations on the Ukrainian issue,” he added. “However ... the current head of the regime in Kyiv, when he was still a fairly legitimate head of state, signed a decree banning all negotiations with Russia.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree following Russia’s full-scale invasion of his country in 2022 that barred any negotiations with Mr Putin, whom Ukraine regards as a war criminal, but left open the possibility of talks with a future Russian leader.
Ukrainian officials have expected Russia to try to use the decree to discomfit Kyiv by pressing Mr Trump to force Mr Zelenskiy to publicly rescind it as the new US president pushes for a quick end to Europe’s biggest war in 80 years.
Mr Putin spoke about Mr Trump in a mild tone that contrasted with his usually dismissive attitude towards western leaders as Moscow and Kyiv try to curry favour with a capricious man whom both regard as vain and susceptible to flattery.
“I’ve always had a businesslike ... pragmatic and even trusting relationship with the current president,” Mr Putin said. “And I can’t help but agree that if his victory hadn’t been stolen in 2020 the crisis in Ukraine might not have emerged in 2022,” he added, echoing Mr Trump’s false narrative about his electoral defeat to Joe Biden.
“Putin is trying to promote the idea of negotiations with the US. But he has a condition: he wants to agree on the fate of Europe – without Europe. And he wants to talk about Ukraine – without Ukraine,” Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, wrote on social media. “This will not happen. Putin has long needed to come back to reality or he will be brought back. This is not how it works in the modern world.”
Mr Trump has expressed admiration for Mr Putin and “love” for the Russian people, but also threatened to impose more sanctions and heavy tariffs on Russia if it refused to make a deal to end its near three-year invasion of its pro-western neighbour.
Mr Trump also accused Russia of stealing US designs for a hypersonic missile during Barack Obama’s presidency from 2009-17, adding that the US military would “fairly shortly” receive “super hypersonic” technology “which is even a step better”.
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