Leadership positions: Putin welcomes Trump's mood to restore contacts
The Kremlin welcomes the desire of US President-elect Donald Trump and his team to restore direct contacts with Moscow, but the dialog should be built on an equal and mutually respectful basis. Vladimir Putin said this at an operational meeting with permanent members of the Security Council on January 20, which took place on the day of Trump's inauguration. Russia is also ready for dialog on the Ukrainian conflict, but its goal should be long-term peace, taking into account the interests of all peoples living in the region, not a brief truce, Putin warned. Other topics discussed at the Security Council meeting included the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the context of the recent ceasefire agreement. However, there are doubts that the situation in the Middle East will be stable after its signing.
Russia is ready for contacts with the new US administration
On January 20 in the afternoon, Vladimir Putin convened an operational meeting with the members of the Security Council, which he usually holds at the end of the week. The open part discussed several issues on the international agenda, in particular the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, which took place on Monday. Putin congratulated Trump on his return to the White House and also welcomed the mood of the 47th US president.
- We see statements by the newly elected US president and members of his team about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia, interrupted through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration. We also hear his statements about the need to do everything possible to prevent a third world war. Of course, we welcome this attitude and congratulate the President-elect of the United States of America on his assumption of office," Vladimir Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds an operational meeting with permanent members of the Security Council via videoconference, January 20, 2025.
The pre-election period was difficult for Trump in every respect: he and his family members were constantly under severe pressure, which even came to the point of attempts on his life, the Russian president recalled. In July 2024, at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, one of the bullets passed within millimeters of Trump's head, catching his ear. Against this backdrop, Putin noted Trump's courage, who in these circumstances "won a convincing election victory."
The dialog between Russia and the United States should be built on an equal and mutually respectful basis, given the significant role of the two countries on a number of key international issues, including the strengthening of strategic stability and security, Vladimir Putin said.
- I would like to emphasize that we have never given up on dialogue, we have always been ready to maintain equal and cooperative relations with any American administration, I have said this many times," the Russian leader stressed.
Earlier, CNN quoted sources as saying that the U.S. president-elect had instructed his team to organize a telephone conversation with the Russian leader in the first days after his inauguration.
U.S. President Donald Trump during his inauguration in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., January 20, 2025
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have publicly announced their readiness for talks. The administration of the new American president is now likely to start actively developing a peace track with Russia, but the further depends on his willingness to take into account Russian basic interests, according to political scientist Dmitry Yelovsky.
"The video congratulations are a clear signal of the Kremlin's readiness to establish contacts and talk to the White House, he added.
- Vladimir Putin's rhetoric is traditionally measured: he is open to dialog and demonstrates calm respect for the leader of another state. Against the background of swearing Zelensky, stumbling Biden, and hysterical European leaders, the Russian president looks like a representative of the "old school" of statesmen: dignified and solid. Putin and Trump already have a history of relations. It is not an easy one. But it makes it easier to start a dialog. Although the prospect of restoring relations still looks rather vague," the expert believes.
Options for resolving the conflict in Ukraine
Speaking about the settlement in Ukraine - which Trump mentioned a lot in his campaign speeches - Putin emphasized the need to achieve long-term peace on the basis of respect for the legitimate interests of all peoples who live in the region. Russia is against a "respite" that would give the AFU an opportunity to regroup forces and rearm.
The Russian Federation will defend the interests of the Russian people - this is the point of the special military operation, Putin emphasized.
- We are also open for dialog with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict. The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, which we have talked about many times," the Russian president said.
Serviceman of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Political scientist Denis Denisov believes that it is the issue of common understanding of the preconditions for the emergence of this conflict that is now considered a stumbling block in discussions and extramural dialogues between the Russian Federation and the countries of the collective West.
- It is obvious that when the president speaks about issues related to the interests of the population of Ukraine and the new regions of the Russian Federation, he means those interests that have been at the top of the negotiation process for ten years. First within the framework of the conflict in Donbass, and later - already within the framework of the conflict in Ukraine. And these are clear rights: to one's history, to one's language, to religion, to ethnicity. In other words, the prevention of any discrimination on the part of, first of all, the Ukrainian state," the political analyst explained.
AFU soldiers
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also announced his readiness for contacts with the Donald Trump administration during his speech at the Security Council meeting. At the same time, he emphasized that for this purpose, serious proposals should come from the Western countries that have frozen or interrupted their relations with Russia.
- Unofficially, many members of his team, he himself has spoken out repeatedly on the Middle East and the Ukrainian crisis, which Trump considers as one of the priorities of his foreign policy activity with a view to its settlement, make it clear that they understand some aspects of the Russian position, for example, with regard to the unacceptability of Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance," Sergei Lavrov said.
Earlier, the special envoy for Ukraine in the administration of the US leader-elect, Keith Kellogg, said that he would like to settle the conflict within 100 days.
Development of the situation in the Middle East
In the Middle East, despite the signing of an agreement between Israel and Hamas, it is difficult to say with certainty that the situation will be sustainable.
- Warnings are sounded from one side that Israel is violating the agreements, and Israel warns the Hamas people that they too are not fully implementing what they signed," the Russian foreign minister said.
The agreement between the parties to the conflict entered into force on January 19. The first stage of the deal calls for a six-week ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of IDF troops from central Gaza, as well as the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. At this stage, 33 captives in Gaza are to be released, including all women, children and men over the age of 50.
- Among the remaining hostages, there is another person with dual citizenship, with Russian citizenship. I would ask you and your colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies to work on this issue, not to forget about it and to do everything to ensure that our citizen is at liberty," Vladimir Putin said.
Sergey Lavrov admitted that the United States was trying to restore its presence in Afghanistan to some extent, including the return of military infrastructure. However, the foreign policy chief emphasized that this is primarily about "the policy pursued by the past administration" of U.S. President Joe Biden.
On April 14, 2021, Biden announced the end of the operation in Afghanistan, which became the longest foreign military campaign in American history. On August 15 of the same year, the Taliban (the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) entered Kabul without a fight.
