MOSCOW, Jan 25 (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he was ready for talks with US counterpart Donald Trump on the Ukraine conflict, fuelling expectations of contact between the two world leaders.
"As for the issue of negotiations... we have always said, and I want to emphasise this once again, that we are ready for these negotiations on Ukrainian issues," Putin told a reporter from Russian state TV.
Putin also said Friday that the 2022 "crisis in Ukraine"-a reference to Moscow's full-scale military offensive-might have been averted had Donald Trump been US president at the time.
"I cannot but agree with him that if he had been president-if his victory hadn't been stolen in 2020 -- then maybe there would not have been the crisis in Ukraine that emerged in 2022," Putin told a state TV reporter.
Meanwhile, Kyiv on Friday warned against negotiations on the war in Ukraine between the US and Russia without including it and Europe, after Russian leader Vladimir Putin said he was ready for talks with Donald Trump.
"He (Putin) wants to negotiate the fate of Europe-without Europe. And he wants to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine," the head of Ukraine's presidential office Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.
"This is not going to happen. Putin needs to come back to reality, or he will be brought back. This is not how it works in the modern world."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said allies should work towards determining a format for any upcoming peace talks with Russia and that Kyiv must be involved for successful negotiations.
His comments are the latest to pile speculation over the possibility of talks to end the brutal conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives after almost three years of fighting.
"I understand that contacts can be in different formats," Zelensky said, referring to possible negotiations that would lead to "a just peace".
"I think we should focus on this today," he said.
President Vladimir Putin earlier this week said he was ready for talks with US counterpart Donald Trump on Ukraine, praising him as a "smart" leader who might have prevented the conflict from starting in February 2022.
Putin did not say when talks could take place, and the Kremlin said earlier it was still waiting for "signals" from Washington, despite Trump announcing Thursday he was willing to meet Putin "immediately".
Trump, who was inaugurated on Monday, has called the conflict "ridiculous" and threatened Russia with tougher economic sanctions if it does not agree to stop its offensive.
Zelensky said in Kyiv that talks to end the war should be held between the United States, Ukraine and Russia, as well as the European Union.
"I can't say today what kind of negotiations will take place, what will be the structure of the negotiation process, because we don't have a common plan yet," Zelensky added.
