Vladimir Putin ‘ready’ to talk to ‘smart’ Donald Trump over Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to sit down with Donald Trump over ending the Russia-Ukraine was as he praised the “pragmatic” new US President.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said 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,” Mr Putin told a reporter from Russian state TV.

Mr Putin also praised Mr Trump as “pragmatic” and “smart”, saying he did not believe the US president would force global oil prices lower in a bid to damage Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to talk to Donald Trump over Ukraine. Picture: AFP

“He is not only a smart person, but a pragmatic person,” Putin told state media. He said oil prices that were either “too high or “too low” were bad for both the Russian and American economies, adding: “I have a hard time imagining there will be decisions taken that are detrimental to the American economy,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Trump increased the pressure on Mr Putin to end the war in Ukraine immediately.

The president threatened huge tariffs on Russia in an interview on Fox News.

“If they don’t settle this war soon, like almost immediately, I’m going to put massive tariffs on Russia,” he said.

“We’ve got to get this war ended.”

He indicated he was willing to lead the negotiations, saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “wants to settle”, even as he criticised him as “no angel”.

Vladimir Putin praised “smart” Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

The president spread the blame for the war between his predecessor Joe Biden, Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy.

Mr Trump earlier said his administration’s efforts to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal were “hopefully underway,” and that he wanted to meet with Mr Putin soon.

The comments came during Mr Trump’s address via video link to the global business elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The newly-inaugurated US president said, “I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended, and that’s not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It’s from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted.”

Without going into details, Mr Trump also said, “Our efforts to secure a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine are now, hopefully, underway. It’s so important to get that done.”

Donald Trump spoke of the war between Russia and Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Picture: AFP

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PUTIN LIKES IDEA OF CUTTING BACK ON NUKES: TRUMP

Speaking via video link at the World Economic Forum, Mr Trump said that shocking images he had seen from the Russian-Ukraine war front of young dead soldiers had horrified him.

“Nobody should see that. You will be forever changed.”

“The only thing that stops a bullet is a human body,” he told the audience of the world’s most powerful economic leaders.”

“They’re laying dead all over the flat field farmland, nobody’s seen anything like it since World War II, it’s time to end it.”

He also suggested that high oil prices were a reason for the war, and called on producer group OPEC to bring down prices.
He said he believed Mr Putin “really liked the idea of cutting back on nuclear” weapons.

In his inauguration address Mr Trump said he wanted his legacy to be a peacemaker.

In his campaigning, he had promised to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in his first 24 in the Oval Office, a self-imposed deadline which he missed.

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room the day after his inauguration. Picture: AFP

A woman walks through debris and rubble outside her apartment block after it was heavily damaged in a Russian attack in Kostyantynivka, Ukraine. Picture: Getty Images

TRUMP THREATENS PUTIN ON TRUTH SOCIAL

It comes as Mr Trump has delivered a stark ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin, demanding he end the Ukraine war “the easy way or the hard way”.

The US President warned Mr Putin must end the war in Ukraine quickly, or else face “high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions”.

Taking to Truth Social, Mr Trump warned the Russian President that things would only get worse if the war doesn’t end soon.

“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” Mr Trump wrote.

“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” he wrote.

“Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way — and the easy way is always better,” he added. “It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL.” NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!”

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured in 2018, are yet to talk by phone in an effort to end the war with Ukraine. Picture: AFP

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which started in 2014.

The invasion, the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties.

Soon after taking office, Mr Trump said of Mr Putin: “He has to make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal.

“I think Russia is going to be in big trouble. He can’t be thrilled that he’s not doing so well.

“I mean, he’s grinding it out, but most people thought the war would be over in about a week, and now it’s been three years, right?”

A building in partial ruins in Kharkiv after heavy fighting in the Russian invasion. Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin is “destroying” Russia. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

It comes after Mr Putin publicly told his security council: “We hear (Trump’s) statements on the need to prevent World War III.

“We undoubtedly welcome such a disposition and congratulate the elected US president.”

Mr Trump, 78, warned his Russian counterpart that spiralling inflation, in addition to an endless conflict, posed a major threat to his people.

Mr Putin, 72, earlier said he was ready to engage with Mr Trump but still insisted on an outcome that would favour Russia.

He said: “We are open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict.

“The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis.”

Mr Trump pledged to speak to Mr Putin “very quickly” after taking office and an initial phone call is expected to take place soon.

UKRAINE ORDERS CHILDREN TO EVACUATE

Ukraine announced evacuations of children from several towns in the northeastern Kharkiv region threatened by Russian forces, as Moscow said it saw nothing new in US President Donald Trump’s call for it to end its invasion.

The evacuation announcement came as the Kremlin said that while it was ready for “mutually respectful dialogue” with Trump, his declarations on the conflict marked no break with the previous US administration.

Trump on Wednesday threatened fresh sanctions on Moscow if Russia did not strike a deal to end the military campaign against Ukraine, which he called “ridiculous”.

But on the ground in northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv region governor Oleg Synegubov said “267 children and their families are to be evacuated from 16 settlements to safe places”.

Synegubov said the towns and villages affected are near Kupiansk, a town which Russia has tried to capture for months where fighting is raging around its outskirts.

Outnumbered Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold back a better resourced Russian army across a long front line.

“The decision was made due to the intensified hostile shelling. We urge families with minors to save their lives and leave the dangerous areas,” Synegubov said on social media.

He earlier said a 54-year-old woman was killed in a Russian attack on a village near Kupiansk.

Kyiv also said that Russian air attacks had killed at least three others and wounded dozens in other frontline towns.

TRUMP” WAR SHOULD HEVER HAVE STARTED

The US President said Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was ready for a deal to halt the conflict which has left around one million dead and wounded in 35 months.

He reiterated the “great relationship” he had with Mr Putin during his first term.

He said: “We’re going to try to do it as quickly as possible. You know, the war between Russia and Ukraine should never have started.”

Mr Trump has already broken his vow that he would end the war in 24 hours.

His new Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration could not put a timeline on ending the war but aides say they may need months to find “a solution.”

Meanwhile Mr Putin and China’s Xi Jinping doubled down on their close ties as they discussed how to respond to Mr rump’s second term.

They spoke on a video call hours after the American leader was inaugurated.

Mr Putin waved to Xi, who he sees as one of his most prominent allies.

He called on Xi to deepen their co-operation with the arrival of Mr Trump.

“These ties are self-sufficient, do not depend on domestic political factors and the current global situation,” he claimed.

As well as applying pressure to Mr Putin, Mr Trump has taken a hard stance on China, threatening Xi with tariffs.

Mr Putin told Xi: “We build our ties on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and support, equality and mutual benefit.”