AMN / WEB DESK
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for beginning talks with Kyiv.
“We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises,” Putin told media persons adding that Russian forces were advancing toward achieving their main goals in Ukraine. He also said he was ready to meet with Trump.
“Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out, in my opinion. Soon there will be no one left who wants to fight. We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises,” Putin said.
Responding to questions on state TV during his annual Q&A session with Russians, Putin told a reporter for a US news channel that he had not spoken with Trump in years but was ready to meet with him to discuss the conflict.
Last month, media reported that Putin was open to discussing a ceasefire deal with Trump but that he ruled out making any major territorial concessions and required that Kyiv give up its aims to join NATO. Putin said Thursday that Russia had no conditions to start talks with Kyiv.
Addressing a summit of European leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war concludes. He also said that support would not be sufficient without support from the United States under Trump.