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Russia is willing to work with President-elect Trump to help improve relations with Ukraine as long as the United States makes the first move, Kremlin officials said this week, adding new impetus to the possibility of peace talks as that his war in Ukraine threatens to drag on. a third year
Speaking to reporters in Moscow on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that Russia may be ready to come to the negotiating table over its “special military operation” in Ukraine, echoing of the phrase used by the Kremlin to describe its war in Ukraine, for so long. since the US acted first.
“If the signals coming from Washington’s new team to restore the dialogue that Washington interrupted after the start of a special military operation (the war in Ukraine) are serious, of course, we will respond to them,” Lavrov said in Moscow
But he emphasized it the US should move firsttelling reporters that “the Americans broke the dialogue, so they should make the first move.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers an annual address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow in February. (Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
His comments come after Trump’s pick for Ukraine envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, 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 permeated both countries as the war drags well beyond the thousand days .
“I think both sides are ready,” Kellogg said in the interview. “After a thousand days of war, with 350,000, 400,000 Russian (soldiers) down and 150,000 Ukrainians dead, or numbers like that, both sides say, ‘OK, maybe this is the time, and we have to step back.’ “. “
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 US estimates.
In Ukraine, the country’s energy infrastructure has suffered extreme damage as a result of a long Russian bombing campaign, designed to knock out portions of the power grid, plunge the country into darkness and ultimately wear down the people’s resolve ukrainian
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Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg speaks during a press conference at the White House in 2020. (Drew Anger/Getty Images)
More recently, Russia launched a bombing raid on Christmas Day against Ukraine’s power grid, directing some 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and 100 attack drones to strike the country’s critical energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Christmas Day timing was a “deliberate” choice by Putin. “What could be more inhuman?” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military has lost about 40 percent of the land it seized in Russia’s Kursk region, a loss that could further erode morale.
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The ruins of the city of Toretsk are seen in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region on December 19. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Lavrov’s remarks also come as Kellogg prepares to travel to Ukraine in January for what he described to Fox News as a fact-finding trip.
He declined to elaborate on what he hopes to accomplish during the visit, saying only that he believes the two countries are ready to end the protracted war and that President Trump could serve as an “arbitrator.”
“Think of a cage fight. You have two fighters and they both want to go out. You need a referee to separate them.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he is open to holding peace talks in third-party Slovakia, citing an 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 would be willing to hold the talks in Slovakia, a country whose leaders have vehemently opposed sending more EU military aid 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.
