On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big statement saying he is ready to ‘compromise on ending the war with Ukraine’ in possible talks with the US President-elect Donald Trump and would have no condition for starting the talks. Responding to questions on state TV during his annual Q&A session with Russians Putin said, “We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromise,” with Russian forces, advancing across the entire front, were moving towards achieving their primary goals in Ukraine.
Speaking at the event the Russian leader 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. The Russian President is ready to negotiate with anyone including Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the media reports. This comes as Zelenskyy, whose term was due to expire earlier this year but has been extended due to martial law, would need to be re-elected for Moscow to consider him a legitimate signatory to any deal to ensure it was legally watertight, said Putin.
He also dismissed any chances of a temporary truce in favour of a lasting peace agreement. He further asserted that future talks should build on an earlier, unimplemented proposal in Istanbul. However, according to the media reports, Putin was open to discussing the Ukraine ceasefire deal with Trump but ruled out making any major territorial concessions and insisted Kyiv abandon its ambitions to join NATO.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia started in February 2022 and has caused extensive casualties, displaced millions, and affected trade across the world. Putin had always defended Moscow’s invasion as a “defensive operation against NATO expansion.”In December, Trump pushed Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine, describing it as part of his active efforts as president-elect to end the war despite being weeks from taking office.
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