Trump and Putin are “ready,” according to the Kremlin

A spokeswoman for the Kremlin said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Donald Trump, who will be president-elect of the US. We asked Peskov at a Moscow news conference if Russia sets any conditions for such a meeting. He said that both sides must want to meet.

“This doesn’t need any conditions to happen.” “Both sides must want to talk and have the political will to do so in order to solve problems through talk,” he said. He said that Moscow is glad that the candidate for US president wants to work things out through talks.

Peskov also said that Trump’s officials have not yet talked to the Russians but that they might do so after Trump is inaugurated. Biden’s government is making things more difficult before Trump’s inauguration.

A spokesman for the Kremlin said that the current government of outgoing US President Joe Biden is making things more difficult before Donald Trump takes office later this month.

“We know that the Biden administration will definitely try to leave the Trump team and his staff with the toughest possible legacy when it comes to bilateral relations.” “In this situation, it’s likely that another set of sanctions will be put in place,” Peskov said.

He did not say anything else about possible sanctions, though, because he said that clear choices from Washington were needed before any conclusions could be made.

In terms of Russia’s position on the conflict in Ukraine, Peskov repeated what President Putin had asked for: the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas; Ukraine’s promise to remain neutral, non-aligned, and nuclear-weapon-free; Kyiv’s refusal to join NATO; and the end of all Western sanctions.

In response to news reports that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had blocked a plan to send €3 billion (nearly $3.1 billion) in military aid to Kiev, which was backed by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Peskov said that Russia sees more and more differences in how Western countries are helping Ukraine.

“We see that disagreements are growing about the chances, ways, and effectiveness of more help.” “We are closely monitoring these developments,” he stated.

Even so, Peskov stressed that Western countries, including European ones, are still reaffirming their support for Ukraine. This is especially true for the US government, which has only 10 days left in office but seems determined to keep the conflict going.

When asked about what Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said recently about Russia’s Kaliningrad region, Peskov said that Moscow sees them as Vilnius’s attempts to take over Russian territory.

“The country of Lithuania is not friendly and has now made territorial claims against us.” “This confirms our serious worries and shows how important it is to take steps now and in the future to protect our national security,” Peskov said.

Responding to the renaming of the Kristijonas Donelaitis memory museum in Kaliningrad on X, Nauseda called the city “Small Lithuania,” which made things worse between the two countries.