Russia Says It Hasn’t Received a Request for Putin-Trump Talks

Heavy fighting continues along the front in Ukraine

The Kremlin said Monday that Russia is ready for contact between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump but hasn’t received any requests for such talks from the new administration.

“We haven’t received any signals from the Americans yet,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. “This is why we continue working according to schedule, maintaining readiness [for dialogue].”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov made similar comments, saying the only contacts between the US and Russia are being carried out at the embassy level. “As the Russian President has repeatedly said, we are open to dialogue and contacts, conversations and meetings,” Ryabkov said.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, but fighting continues to rage across the frontlines. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump has given his envoy to the conflict, Keith Kellog, 100 days to reach a deal.

Trump recently criticized Zelensky, saying that he “decided to fight” Russia instead of making a deal. The comments signaled that the Trump administration might be willing to put pressure on Zelensky to get him to negotiate with Russia, but it’s unclear what sort of deal Washington will be willing to offer Moscow.

Trump’s State Department has paused foreign aid for 90 days, with exemptions for Israel and Egypt, but the freeze does not appear to impact US weapons shipments to Ukraine that go through the Pentagon.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.