Vladimir Putin has claimed he is ready to speak to Donald Trump ahead of the US president-elect’s return to the White House.
Trump is currently looking to set up a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia – but there are fears any settlement will be in Putin’s favour, because the Republican is so keen to end the conflict quickly and Trump has often boasted of his strong friendship with the Russian president.
Journalist Bob Woodward even wrote in his book War – published in October – that Putin and Trump had up to seven conversations over the phone since the latter left the White House, although both sides have denied the claims.
Still, the Russian president told his annual press conference and phone-in today that he was “ready” to talk to Trump again after a four-year gap.
He said: “I don’t know when we will meet because he doesn’t say anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him at all for more than four years.
“And I am ready for this, of course, at any time. And I will be ready for a meeting if he wants it.”
He added: “I am sure we will have plenty to talk about.
“We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises, it’s just that [Ukraine], both literally and figuratively, refused to negotiate.
“Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out, in my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight.
“We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises.”
While discussing international relations, Putin also denied that the ousting of his ally, the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, was a failure for Russia.
According to Reuters news agency, he said: “We maintain relations with all the groups that control the situation there, with all the countries in the region. The overwhelming majority of them tell us that they would be interested in our military bases remaining in Syria.
“You want to portray everything that is happening in Syria as some kind of failure, a defeat for Russia. I assure you, it is not.”
He claimed: “Whoever would like to portray Russia as weakened, you know – I would like to recall a famous person and writer who once said, ‘rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated’.”
