Trump says he has decided to start talks with Putin on a settlement in Ukraine

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that he intends to initiate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term of office expired in May) on the settlement of hostilities in Ukraine. The politician said this on December 16, speaking at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

"We will talk. We will communicate with President Putin and representative Zelensky, with representatives of Ukraine. We need to stop this," he told reporters. The broadcast was carried by The Hill publication.

Trump emphasized that he would do everything possible to stop the current "carnage" that the world has not known since World War II. He also added that he has been receiving signals from Kiev about the desire to reach a settlement of the conflict.

"I represented (in Paris. - Ed.) our country and we were treated with great respect. One of those who came to express their respect is, as you know, Zelensky from Ukraine. He made it clear that he wants peace. He seeks peace," the politician noted.

At the same time, Trump added that Zelensky will not be among the world leaders to whom he sent invitations to attend the ceremony of his inauguration as head of state in January.

Trump's dialog with Zelensky and Ukraine's problems on the front. What the media write

Earlier, on December 13, Trump's team said that it was negotiating with the current White House administration and Ukrainian officials to end the conflict in Ukraine. It was noted that the Republican has not yet presented concrete plans for a peaceful settlement. On the same day, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg admitted the end of the conflict in Ukraine in the coming months. According to him, the US President-elect is capable of decisive action on conflict resolution.

Before that, on December 3, was published the "Kellogg's plan" written in April on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, the author of which is the future special envoy of Trump. In his opinion, it is necessary to stop political isolation of the Russian Federation, putting pressure on Moscow and Kiev, as well as to start stimulating peaceful settlement more actively. Kellogg suggested preservation of liberated territories by Russia, easing of sanctions and normalization of relations with the United States.

Reuters reported on December 11 that the U.S. president-elect told Ukrainian leader Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting in Paris that he wanted a ceasefire and negotiations. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, commenting on this, said that if the president-elect's administration is serious about resolving the conflict in Ukraine, Russia is ready to consider the proposals.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.