Russia has no problem with talks, but US must act first

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia is ready to work with the incoming administration of US President Donald Trump to improve relations if the United States has serious intentions to do so, but it is up to the incoming administration to make the first move, Reuters reported.

President-elect Donald Trump, who will return as US president on January 20, 2025, describes himself as a skilled dealmaker and has pledged to end the war in Ukraine quickly, but has not specified how he might do so beyond convincing President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, to agree to end the fighting.

The US envoy to Ukraine, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, told Fox News on December 18, 2024, that both sides are ready for peace talks and that President Donald Trump is in an ideal position to implement a deal to end the war.

“If the signals coming from the new team in Washington to restore the dialogue, which they previously boycotted after the start of a special military operation (the war in Ukraine), are serious, then of course we will respond to them,” the Russian foreign minister told reporters in Moscow. “But the Americans broke off the dialogue, so they should take the first step.”