Trump says meeting being set up between him and Putin

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday (local time) that a meeting is being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, Trump made the statement on Thursday announcing the plans underway for a meeting between him and Putin, however, he offered no timeline for the talks between the two leaders, according to Reuters.

Quoting Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Russian News Agency TASS noted, “In case [Trump’s] political will to resume high-level contacts after he takes office persists, then, of course, President Putin will only welcome this,” the spokesman said.

Peskov recalled that the Russian President repeatedly stated his readiness for dialogue as well as the need for this.

Earlier, Trump said that he would like to hold talks with Putin and suggested that this could happen in the first six months after he officially assumes office. So far, no requests for such contact have been received from the American side, Peskov said, as per TASS.

In December last year, Putin, while speaking at his annual end-of-the-year news conference, had said that he was ready to discuss the possibility of reaching a compromise in talks with US President-elect Donald Trump on the issue of Ukraine. “I don’t know when I’m going to see him. He isn’t saying anything about it. I haven’t talked to him in more than four years. I am ready for it, of course. Any time,” Al Jazeera quoted Putin as saying.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly stated that, if elected, he intends to resolve the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours. However, he admitted on January 7, that the settlement process may take longer, expressing hopes that his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the subject, among other issues, will take place much earlier than six months following his inauguration, according to TASS.