Russian President Vladimir Putin is “ready” to speak to Donald Trump, the Kremlin said on Friday the day after a call from the American president for an immediate meeting, but neither Moscow nor Washington has put forward a real timetable for this expected discussion. .
Moscow, kyiv and their allies are watching for the position that the unpredictable tenant of the White House will adopt on the Ukrainian conflict, which he has repeatedly claimed to want to end without ever explaining his intentions.
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Dmitri Peskov, porte-parole du Kremlin
Photo: Getty Images / GAVRIIL GRIGOROV
A conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, discussed for a long time, but not yet materialized, is seen as an important step.
Putin is ready. We are waiting for signals. Everyone is ready.
It’s hard to read the coffee grounds here
said Mr. Peskov, returning the ball to the White House.
He gave no indication as to the timing or nature of these expected signals, while President Trump told journalists in the Oval Office on Thursday that he was ready for an immediate meeting with Vladimir Putin.
I think, from what I hear, that Putin wants to meet with me, we will meet as soon as possible. I would meet him immediately.
L’Ukraine, a ridiculous war
this Trump
Every day we don’t meet, soldiers are killed on the battlefield
estimated Donald Trump, denouncing a ridiculous war
.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to negotiate a deal, they would like to stop
he added.
Mr. Trump’s positions are difficult to pin down. His country is Ukraine’s primary military supporter and he has criticized this aid several times, but he also recently threatened Moscow with more sanctions for failure to reach an agreement with kyiv.
Ukraine fears being pushed to the negotiating table in an unfavorable position, because it is struggling on the front, and of being forced to cede its territories occupied by Russia.
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Moscow and kyiv are watching for the position that the White House tenant will adopt on the Ukrainian conflict.
-Photo: Reuters / Andrii Nesterenko
Volodymyr Zelensky, long hostile to any negotiations with Moscow, has recently raised this possibility on several occasions. But he combines it with solid security guarantees from the West.
The Kremlin, for its part, demands the surrender of Ukraine, that it renounces joining theI’LL TAKE and that Russia keeps the Ukrainian territories whose annexation it has claimed. Conditions that kyiv considers unacceptable.
Thursday, during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Donald Trump called for hitting Russia in the wallet by lowering oil prices.
If these were lower the war in Ukraine would be over immediately
he had estimated.
Dmitry Peskov replied on Friday that the conflict in Ukraine does not depend on oil prices
more arises from a threat to Russian national security
.
The Kremlin, which has raised the nuclear threat several times since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, also urged the United States on Friday to initiate nuclear disarmament negotiations as soon as possible
.
On the front
Donald Trump’s return to the White House occurs at a time when Russia undoubtedly has the advantage on the front.
The Russian Defense Ministry, which reports almost every day on the advance of its troops, announced on Friday the capture of Tymofiivka, a small village in the Donetsk region (east).
Hundreds of kilometers from the fighting, Russian strikes left three people dead in the kyiv region, according to a new report announced Friday by the Ukrainian authorities.
Volodymyr Zelensky denounced what he perceives as the laxity of his allies regarding deliveries to Russia of components for drones and missiles, which continue despite Western sanctions.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that it had shot down 120 Ukrainian drones overnight over 12 of its regions, including Moscow, one of the largest attacks of this type against its territory since the start of the conflict.
Russian media reported damage in several regions.
The Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for a nighttime drone strike on a refinery in the Ryazan region south of Moscow, as well as a microcomponent factory used for weapons production in the Bryansk region southwest of the Russian capital. .
