Russia is willing to work with President-elect Trump to help improve relations with Ukraine as long as the United States takes the first step, Kremlin officials said this week, adding new momentum to the possibility of peace talks at a time when its war in Ukraine threatens to spill over. Third year.
Speaking to reporters Thursday in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that Russia may be willing to come to the negotiating table on its “special military operation” in Ukraine — echoing a phrase the Kremlin has used to describe its war in Ukraine — for a long time. The United States also acted first.
He added, “If the signals that come from the new team in Washington are to restore the dialogue that Washington broke off after the start of the special military operation [the war in Ukraine] “They are serious, of course, we will answer them,” Lavrov said in Moscow.
But he stressed that the United States must act first, telling reporters that “the Americans have broken the dialogue, so they must take the first step.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Gostiny Dvor in Moscow in February. (Kremlin Press Office/Bulletin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
His statements come after Trump chose retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg for the position of Ukraine envoy. He told Fox News in an interview This month, both Russia and Ukraine appear willing to negotiate an end to the war — citing heavy casualties, damage to critical infrastructure, and a general sense of exhaustion that has prevailed in both countries as the war continues beyond the 1,000-day mark. .
“I think both sides are prepared,” Kellogg said in the interview. “After a thousand days of war, with 350,000 to 400,000 Russian soldiers [soldiers] And it falls, and 150,000 Ukrainian dead, or numbers like that – both sides say, “Well, maybe this is the time, and we should back off.”
So far, Russia has lost tens of thousands of soldiers in the war. As of this fall, an average of 1,200 soldiers were killed or wounded per day, according to American estimates.
In Ukraine, the country’s energy infrastructure has seen extensive damage as a result of Russia’s prolonged bombing campaign, which was designed to collapse parts of the energy grid, plunge the country into darkness, and, ultimately, wear down the resolve of the Ukrainian people.
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Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg speaks during a news conference at the White House in 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Most recently, Russia launched a Christmas Day bombing of Ukraine’s power grid, directing about 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and 100 drones to hit the country’s critical energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the timing of Christmas was a “deliberate” choice by Putin. “What could be more brutal?” He said in a statement.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian army lost about 40% of the territory it seized in Russia’s Kursk region – a loss that may further erode morale.
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The ruins of the city of Turetsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on December 19. (Ukrinform/NoorPhoto via Getty Images)
Lavrov’s statements also come as Kellogg prepares to travel to Ukraine next January for what he described to Fox News as an information-gathering trip.
He declined to provide further details about what he would aim to achieve during the visit, saying only that he believed both countries were ready to end the long-running war — and that incoming President Trump could serve as “the arbiter.”
“Think of a cage fight. You have two fighters, and they both want out. You need a referee to separate them.”
On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he is open to holding peace talks in the third country, Slovakia, citing the offer made by the country’s prime minister during a visit to the Kremlin earlier this week.
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It is unclear whether Ukraine is ready to hold the talks in Slovakia, a country whose leaders strongly oppose sending more military aid from the European Union to Ukraine.
Ukraine did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the peace talks, or whether it would be open to Slovakia’s offer to host the talks.
