Putin ready to meet with Trump without preconditions, Kremlin says. Ukraine responds

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this during a briefing on January 10, as reported by Interfax and TASS.

According to him, no preliminary conditions are needed for organizing a meeting between the Russian and U.S. leaders. The Kremlin expects the meeting's organization to begin after Trump's inauguration, as there is currently "no specificity in his statements about meetings and contacts."

Peskov also added that "Russia welcomes Trump's intention to resolve issues through dialogue" and emphasized that the Kremlin "maintains its position on Ukraine, which Putin has repeatedly expressed."

Ukraine's response

At a briefing on January 10, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said that this was not the first statement about a possible meeting between Trump and Putin, so he “does not really understand why it has gained such a resonance in the media.”

According to him, Ukraine's position is "very simple": it wants a just peace and sees that Trump is also "determined to end the war.”

Tykhyi described the upcoming meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy as crucial for Ukraine, stating, “The most important thing for us is to collaborate with America to achieve peace.”

"Of course, attention is now heightened, everyone is watching every statement, but again, we are preparing for Ukrainian-American contacts at the highest level immediately after the inauguration," LIGA.net quoted the diplomat as saying.

• On Tuesday, January 7, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin seeks to meet with him.
• Newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump stated that preparations are underway for his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.