Putin Discusses Ukraine Negotiations as Trump Takes Office

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated his claim he’s willing to enter negotiations about the war he started in Ukraine that would involve the new Trump administration.

On the day that Trump took the oath of office, Putin convened a meeting of top officials in which he said that Moscow was open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict if the sides could eliminate “the root causes” of the war.

However, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the comments by Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, showed that Moscow will not compromise on its goal of Ukraine’s full capitulation.

Newsweek contacted the White House and the Kremlin for comment.

Why It Matters

Putin has said before he was willing to enter negotiations, but as Ukraine was not mentioned in Trump’s inauguration speech, speculation is mounting over whether the U.S. president can get Russia to the table and make good on his pledge to end the war quickly.

What to Know

A Kremlin transcript of the Russian Security Council meeting on Monday outlined how Putin had introduced Lavrov to talk about the impact of the Trump administration on Moscow’s foreign policy priorities such as the Middle East.

Lavrov noted Trump’s insistence that he can end the war quickly and the foreign minister added that Russia’s position includes the unacceptability of Ukraine’s NATO membership.

Putin then spoke, welcoming the Trump administration’s comments before inauguration day about wanting to restore direct contacts with Moscow, which he said had soured during the Biden term.

The Russian president said Moscow was “open to dialogue” with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict, but that the most important thing was to eliminate its root causes.

Lavrov had defined these root causes on December 26 as Moscow’s accusations of NATO’s eastward expansion and the Ukrainian government’s alleged discrimination against ethnic Russians and the Russian language.

Putin, Lavrov and other senior officials have said recently that the Kremlin will not consider compromises to demands that pre-dated the full-scale invasion for Ukraine to remain permanently neutral, for its military to be restricted and its government to be removed.

Putin said on Monday there should not be a truce allowing for forces to regroup and rearm, but the ISW said that his reference for “long-term peace” does not suggest that he would back down from his demands that amount to Ukraine’s “full capitulation.”

After his return to the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that Putin should seek a peace deal otherwise the country faces “big trouble.”

What People Are Saying

Putin said on January 20: “I emphasize that we have never refused. We have always been ready to maintain smooth relations of cooperation with any U.S. administration, as I have said more than once.”

Trump said on January 20: “He should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,” Trump stated. “I think Russia’s going to be in big trouble.”

What Happens Next

Trump has said that plans for a meeting with Putin are underway and CNN has reported that a phone call between the leaders could happen in the coming days.

Trump said he got along with Putin and hoped he would make a deal, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that negotiations would be challenging and each side would have to concede something.