Putin calls for Trump talks on Ukraine war and beyond

Vladimir Putin has emphasised that he is open for talks with Donald Trump on a broad range of issues including Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he called for the two leaders to meet.

- TARA COBHAM

The Russian president also echoed his US counterpart’s claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022, in what was his bluntest endorsement yet of Mr Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.

In the interview with Russian state television on Friday, Putin praised Mr Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests and said: “We believe the current president’s statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations.”

He continued: “We always had a businesslike, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current US president. I couldn’t disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn’t stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that he believed Mr Trump could end the war – but only if Ukraine was involved in the talks.