MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Ukraine would not be excluded from negotiations to end the war, but success would depend on raising the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.
Putin, speaking a day after Russia and the United States held their first talks on how to end the three-year conflict, also said it would take time to set up a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, which both men have said they want, and there was no point in meeting just to drink tea.
He praised the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia, where Russia and the U.S. agreed to appoint negotiating teams on Ukraine and discussed ways to reset their bilateral relations, which the Kremlin described as “below zero” under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.
“In my opinion, we have taken a first step to resume work in a variety of areas that are of mutual interest,” Putin said in televised comments. These included issues relating to the Middle East, global energy markets and cooperation in space, he said.
“Without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States, it is impossible to resolve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis.”
Ukraine and European governments were not invited to the talks in the Saudi capital, which heightened their concern that Russia and the United States might cut a deal that ignores their vital security interests.
But Putin said Russia had never rejected talks with the Europeans or with Kyiv, and it was they who had refused to talk to Moscow.
‘NO ONE IS EXCLUDING UKRAINE,’ PUTIN SAYS
“If they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations,” he said.
“No one is excluding Ukraine,” he added, saying that there was therefore no need for a “hysterical” reaction to the U.S.-Russia talks.
Putin, who since Trump’s November election victory has made a series of flattering comments towards him, praised the American’s “restraint” in the face of what he called “boorish” behaviour by U.S. allies.
He said he would be “happy to meet with Donald”.
“But we are in such a situation that it is not enough to meet to have tea, coffee, sit and talk about the future. We need to ensure that our teams prepare issues that are extremely important for both the United States and Russia, including – but not only – on the Ukrainian track, in order to reach solutions acceptable to both sides.”
Putin said this would be no easy task. He said that Trump himself, who during the U.S. election campaign repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, was now talking about a period of six months.
He said this was “natural” because Trump had simply begun to receive fresh information that changed his approach.
On energy prices, Putin said that he, Trump and the Saudi king had held a three-way conversation in the past, and there was a need to hold a new discussion in that format.
(Reporting by Marina Bobrova, Maxim Rodionov and Darya Korsunskaya; writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Mark Heinrich)
