Waltz said Trump believes a solution on Ukraine is impossible without dialog with Russian Federation

US President-elect Donald Trump believes that the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is impossible without dialog with Russia. This was reported by Trump's national security adviser Michael Waltz on January 12.

"From [President-elect] Trump's point of view, it's impossible to make a deal if there's not some kind of relationship and dialog with the other side," he said on ABC News.

Waltz added that a dialog with Russian Federation will be established over the next few months. In addition, he pointed to the change in the attitude of the West and Ukraine to the conflict after Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

Waltz also clarified that the American leader-elect considers it impossible to "oust" Russia from all former Ukrainian territories. According to him, this reality is beginning to be recognized by the whole world. In addition, Trump's adviser noted that a ceasefire could be the first step towards a peaceful settlement.

"We would love to have a ceasefire any minute or day. That would be an incredibly positive first step on both sides, and it would allow us to then get into the framework of some kind of negotiation process," he said.

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Prior to that, Waltz reported on ABC News that Trump was preparing for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to him, the format has not yet been discussed, but the advisor to the US leader-elect himself expects a telephone conversation between the heads of state in the coming days or weeks.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on the same day that he welcomed Trump's plans to meet with Putin. He called the likelihood of their meeting "not bad news."

In turn, the newspaper Le Temps, citing the head of the information service of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Nicolas Bidot, reported that Switzerland is ready to organize a meeting of the heads of state if they ask for it.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on January 10 that Russia had no certain conditions for negotiations with the United States.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.