The Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, praised the president-elect – who takes office on 20 January – for raising Nato expansion as a factor in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
State media reported comments from a foreign ministry official on Wednesday proposing a meeting between Trump and President Vladimir Putin to “resolve” the war.
Moscow’s stated conditions before potential talks include that Russia must retain four regions of Ukraine its forces annexed in 2022, and that Ukraine must never join Nato – both terms rejected by Kyiv and its allies, although Trump and his team have expressed greater openness.
Trump campaigned on a promise to end the Ukraine war on ‘Day One’ of his term (Photo: Ukrainian Armed Forces/ Reuters)
Russian officials are in direct dialogue with members of Trump’s team, the independent Russian outlet Moscow Times reported this week, citing unnamed Kremlin sources. Communications are said to be secretive to avoid Trump being accused of collusion with Russia, as he was in his first term.
Trump’s recent comments advocating annexation of Canada and Greenland are said to have encouraged Putin’s regime.
Trump repeatedly criticised US aid to Ukraine on the campaign trail and pledged to end the war on day one of his term, widely interpreted as a message that Kyiv would have to abandon efforts to regain the 18 per cent of its territory that is occupied by Russia.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, said Trump would not disengage with Ukraine after meeting him in Florida this month.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says Trump would not abandon Ukraine (Photo: Filippo Attili/Palazzo Chigi/AFP/Getty)
Russian hardliners have suggested sidelining Europe and resolving the war through bilateral talks with Trump’s administration.
Patrushev went on to express concern that Trump’s stated intention to scale back US involvement in Ukraine could also be thwarted by elements of the so-called deep state – a term often used by Trump to describe alleged shadowy interests in government.
Analysis by the Valdai Club, a hawkish think-tank based in Moscow and favoured by Putin, also suggested that Trump was unlikely to resolve the conflict on terms favourable to Russia.
Such a move would keep a US adversary occupied while maintaining European dependence on the US, Sushentsov wrote.
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Read More“They will try to make their vision of conflict resolution the framework and they will probably demand quite a lot beyond the scope of Ukraine,” he said. “The European security order, sanctions, the Middle East and Iran. Russia will be putting a lot on the table to discuss.
“It’s looking like a very hard conversation now, and there are plenty of ways it could go wrong. I would say there is a one in 50 chance it works.”
Max Hess, a Eurasia analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said there was “giddiness” within the Russian establishment over Trump’s moves on Greenland and Canada, which could further legitimise unilateral annexations. But expectations were limited.
Trump is likely to “at least entertain the idea” of bilateral negotiations with Russia that sideline Europe and Ukraine, Mr Hess believes, but notes that elements of his policy team have also mooted the idea of increasing weapons to supplies to Ukraine to improve its leverage in negotiations.
Ultimately, the war in Ukraine is not one of Trump’s top priorities and his views are changeable, said Mr Hess. “So it’s all to play for.”
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