Kremlin officials said this week that Russia is ready to work with President-elect Donald Trump to improve relations with Ukraine as long as the U.S. acts first, amid fears the Ukraine war could drag on. It added new momentum to the possibility of peace talks. I'm entering my third year.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated to reporters in Moscow that Russia is ready to come to the negotiating table on “special military operations” in Ukraine – this is how the Kremlin describes the Ukraine war. They're repeating the language they use to do things like the United States acted first, which has been the case for a long time.
“If there is a signal from the new team in Washington that Washington will resume the dialogue that it interrupted after the start of the special military operation, [the war in Ukraine] It is serious, of course we will respond,” Lavrov said in Moscow.
However, he told reporters, “The United States has broken the dialogue, so the United States should act first,'' emphasizing that the United States should act first.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the Russian Federation parliament in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow in February. (Photo credit: Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Anadolu, via Getty Images)
His remarks came in the wake of President Trump's selection of retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine. said in an interview on Fox News This month, both Russia and Ukraine announced their willingness to negotiate an end to the war, citing heavy casualties, damage to critical infrastructure, and a general sense of fatigue that has permeated both countries after well over 1,000 days of war. It seems like there is. .
“I think both sides are ready,” Kellogg said in an interview. “After a thousand days of war, 350,000, 400,000 Russians [soldiers] It collapses, 150,000 Ukrainians die, or numbers like that, and both sides say, 'Okay, maybe now is the time, we need to leave.' ”
To date, Russia has lost tens of thousands of soldiers in this war. According to U.S. estimates, an average of 1,200 soldiers were killed or injured each day this fall.
In Ukraine, the country's energy infrastructure has been severely damaged as a result of Russia's long-term bombing campaign aimed at collapsing parts of the power grid, plunging the country into darkness, and ultimately wearing down the resolve of the Ukrainian people. received.
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Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg speaks at a press conference at the White House in 2020. ((Drew Angerer/Getty Images))
Most recently, Russia began shelling Ukraine's power grid on Christmas Day, deploying approximately 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and 100 attack drones to attack the country's critical energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the timing of Christmas Day was a “deliberate” choice by Putin. “What could be more inhuman?” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have lost about 40% of the land they captured in Russia's Kursk region, and this loss is likely to further reduce morale.
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Ruins of the city of Tretsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, December 19, 2024. (Photo credit: Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Lavrov's comments also came as Kellogg prepared to travel to Ukraine in January for what he described to Fox News as an intelligence trip.
He declined to elaborate on what he aims to accomplish during his visit, saying only that he believes both countries are ready to end the protracted war, and that President-elect Trump will hold a “judgment.” He said he may serve.
“Think of a cage fight. You have two fighters and they both want to tap out. You need a referee to separate them.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he is open to holding peace talks in a third country, Slovakia, citing an offer from the country's prime minister during a visit to the Kremlin earlier this week.
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It is unclear whether Ukraine will agree to host the talks in Slovakia, although Slovak leaders strongly oppose additional EU military aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment on the peace talks or whether it was open to the Slovak organizers' offer.
