Kremlin says Putin 'ready' to meet Trump

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Asked at a press briefing in Moscow whether Russia sets any conditions for such a meeting, Peskov said only mutual interest in a meeting is required.

"No conditions are required for this. It requires a mutual desire and political will to engage in dialogue and solve existing issues through dialogue,” he said.

Moscow welcomes the intention of the US president-elect to resolve issues through dialogue, he noted.

Peskov also said that Trump’s representatives have not yet contacted the Russian side, but contacts may take place after his inauguration.

Biden's administration complicating issues ahead of Trump's inauguration

The current administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden is complicating matters ahead of Donald Trump's return to the White House later this month, according to the Kremlin spokesman.

“We understand that the (Biden) administration will undoubtedly seek to leave the incoming Trump team and his associates with the most challenging legacy possible in terms of bilateral relations. In this context, it’s quite likely that another set of sanctions may be imposed,” Peskov remarked.

However, he refrained from commenting further on potential sanctions, saying concrete decisions from Washington must be awaited before drawing any conclusions.

Regarding Russia's stance on the Ukrainian conflict, Peskov reiterated President Putin's demands: the withdrawal of Ukrainian armed forces from Donbas, Ukraine's commitment to a neutral, non-aligned, and nuclear-weapon-free status, Kyiv's refusal to join NATO, and the lifting of all Western sanctions.

Responding to media reports that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had blocked a proposed €3 billion (nearly $3.1 billion) military aid package to Kyiv, which was supported by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Peskov said Russia sees growing contradictions among Western nations in their approaches to assisting Ukraine.

“We observe increasing disagreements over the prospects, methods, and effectiveness of further assistance. Naturally, we are closely monitoring these developments,” he stated.

Despite this, Peskov emphasized that Western nations, including European countries, continue to express their commitment to supporting Ukraine, particularly the outgoing US administration, which, with only 10 days left in office, appears determined to prolong the conflict.

Turning to recent comments by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda about Russia's Kaliningrad region, Peskov says Moscow sees them as Vilnius territorial ambitions toward Russia.

“Lithuania is an unfriendly, hostile state that has now revealed territorial claims against us. This validates our significant concerns and underscores the necessity of current and future measures to ensure our national security,” Peskov said.

Nauseda, reacting on X to the renaming of the Kristijonas Donelaitis memorial museum in Kaliningrad, referred to the city as "Small Lithuania," escalating tensions between the two countries.