Donald Trump has pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war soon after he takes office later this month, and while it's not clear how he plans to do so, the president-elect is hinting about the first possible move toward that goal. Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants to meet, and we are setting it up," Trump told the media at a Mar-a-Lago presser Thursday evening in Palm Beach, Florida, per USA Today. He added: "We have to get that war over with," calling the conflict a "bloody mess."
The AP reports that the Kremlin has given an apparent thumbs-up to such a meeting taking place, with no conditions for Trump and Putin—who met at least five times during Trump's first go-round as president—to get together, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "We need a mutual desire and political willingness to engage in a dialogue," Peskov said Friday, per the New York Times. "We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to solve issues via dialogue. We welcome that." However, Peskov didn't confirm that an invite to Trump had been extended or that plans for a meeting were officially in the works, suggesting that would only happen after Trump's inauguration.
Despite some hope that a new US administration could make inroads toward peace in the region, Ukraine and its supporters are nervous that that "peace" could involve Ukraine handing over large portions of land to Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hasn't spoken publicly about this possible meeting. As for Trump's initial goal of ending the war in Ukraine within "24 hours" of returning to the Oval Office, that timeline has since shifted. "I hope to have six months," the president-elect told reporters on Tuesday. "I hope long before six months." (More Vladimir Putin stories.)
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