Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would like to meet US President Donald, but he added that the meeting needs to be productive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that he would want to meet his US counterpart, Donald Trump. He also underscored that the meeting needs to be prepared so that it is ‘productive.’ In televised remarks, Putin said he would be “pleased” to meet Trump, adding, “I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results.”
Putin hails Russia, US talks
He also hailed the talks between the delegations of the US and Russia as he said that both countries agreed to restore the tattered diplomatic relations. The Russian president also said that Trump acknowledged that the peace process in Ukraine could take longer than he had initially hoped.
On Tuesday, as the talks between Russia and the US wrapped up, Putin’s foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov, who attended the talks in Riyadh alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, told Russia’s Channel One that no date has been set yet for a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump. He also added that the meeting was unlikely to take place next week.
Trump earlier jettisoned three years of US policy and announced he would likely meet soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal in the almost three-year war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s reaction on Russia, US talks
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not accept any negotiations about Ukraine that do not include his country in the talks, Russia appreciated Trump’s position.
Trump’s change of tack seemed to identify Putin as the only player that matters in ending the fighting and looked set to sideline Zelenskyy, as well as European governments, in any peace talks.
Meanwhile, Russia continued to pummel Ukraine with drones, according to Kyiv’s military. The Ukrainian air force said Russian troops launched a barrage of 176 drones at Ukraine overnight, most of which were destroyed or disabled by jamming.
(With inputs from AP)
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