MOSCOW-Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to a dialogue with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, but so far is waiting for certain signals from Washington, according to the Kremlin on Friday, following growing expectation of possible contacts between the two men with sharp escalation of the geopolitical tensions lately.
The fighting in Ukraine has already chilled relations between the two nuclear powers to lows not seen since the Cold War. Trump has repeatedly voiced a desire to end the bloodshed through negotiations, and just last week said he would meet Putin “immediately” and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “eager” to talk.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that although Putin is ready for talks, the ball was in Washington’s court. “We are waiting for signals,” Peskov said, adding it was hard to predict a meeting’s likelihood.
Trump has threatened Russia with increased economic sanctions in case the conflict does not reach a resolution anytime soon. He said to Fox News in an interview, “If they don’t settle this war soon, like almost immediately, I’m going to impose massive tariffs and sanctions on Russia.”
However, the Kremlin rejected Trump’s claim that the crisis could be ended by forcing down oil prices, which finance Moscow’s budget. “Threats to Russia’s national security” and an apparent reluctance by Western countries to take into account Russia’s “concerns”-as Peskov put it-mitigate this situation.
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said that if he asked Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower the price of oil, the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be resolved very quickly. However, Peskov repeated once again that the roots of the conflict are deeper than economic ones.
While hostilities have continued unabated, there are reports coming in that recent Russian aerial attacks around Kyiv killed three people and injured more in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian officials, fragments of a drone hit a residential building. The Ukrainian military reportedly launched drone strikes against an oil refinery and an electronics plant.
As the possibility of talks now looms large in the initial days of the Trump administration, both Moscow and Kyiv are maneuvering for leverage. Pledging quick action to end the Ukraine conflict before his inauguration, Trump stoked concerns in Ukraine that he might be willing to trade away territory for other benefits for Russia.
But Russian forces are moving on the field, recently capturing the village of Tymofiivka, some 20 kilometers east of the major industrial city of Pokrovsk. Yet, the tension between the two sides is palpable, as many think that what may unfold will prove a defining moment in this war.
