Kremlin Confirms Readiness for Putin to Meet Trump

The president-elect had said Russia’s leader wanted to meet him to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said it welcomed such dialogue, but a meeting could occur only after Mr. Trump took office.

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The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia remained open to a meeting between President Vladimir V. Putin and President-elect Donald J. Trump, but that any concrete steps to set up such talks could be made only after Mr. Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

Responding to comments made on Thursday by Mr. Trump, who said that Mr. Putin wanted to meet him to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s spokesman reaffirmed Russia’s longstanding official position that Moscow was ready to talk.

“We need a mutual desire and political willingness to engage in a dialogue,” Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, told reporters. “We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to solve issues via dialogue. We welcome that.”

Mr. Peskov added that the Kremlin’s understanding is that there is a “mutual readiness for a meeting,” but, he said, “it looks like things will start to move after Trump enters the Oval Office.”

He did not confirm that Mr. Putin had requested a meeting with Mr. Trump or that one was being set up, as Mr. Trump said on Thursday night.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Friday that Kyiv expected President Volodymyr Zelensky would also meet with Mr. Trump after the inauguration.

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