RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Kremlin ‘would welcome’ contact from Trump

Moscow would be willing to talk to US President-elect Donald Trump if he sticks to his plan of restoring contacts, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday. It has not received any specific requests from Washington in this regard, he added.

Trump has promised on several occasions that he could achieve a negotiated settlement of the Ukraine conflict in just one day. In December, he also said that he would wait for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the hostilities.

Moscow has repeatedly said that it is ready for a dialogue about a potential peace settlement and accused Kiev of refusing to engage in negotiations.

On Thursday, Peskov said that Putin “would only welcome” a situation in which Trump would “retain his political will to restore contacts at the highest level” after his inauguration on January 20. The Russian president “has repeatedly spoken about his readiness for a dialogue” and the need for it, the spokesman added.

According to Peskov, Moscow has not received any specific requests from the US on the issue.

He suggested that “for obvious reasons” it would be prudent to wait until Trump assumes office.

Speaking to journalists at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this week, Trump said that he might need up to six months after taking office to help Moscow and Kiev reach a deal. His special envoy on the Ukraine conflict, retired US Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, told Fox News that he would like to set a 100-day timeline to end the conflict.

According to some media reports, Trump’s team is considering a freeze of the conflict along the current front line. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it seeks to end the conflict, not freeze it.

In December, Putin told a press conference that he was ready to meet and talk with Trump. Earlier, he also outlined conditions for a peaceful resolution, including an immediate ceasefire and readiness for negotiations, if Ukrainian forces withdraw from all Russian territory, including the regions that joined the country following referendums in autumn 2022. Putin has also called on Kiev to abandon its NATO ambitions and adopt a neutral and nuclear weapon-free status.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Four dead in shelling incidents in Ukraine, officials say

Four people were killed on Thursday in instances of shelling in Ukraine, one blamed on Russia's military, the other on Ukrainian forces, regional officials said.

In Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia's slow advance westward along the front line, regional governor Vadym Filaskhin said on Telegram that two people were killed when Russian forces shelled the town of Siversk.

Further south, in a Russian-controlled area of Zaporizhzhia region, two people were killed when the town of Kamyanka-Dniprovska came under Ukrainian fire, the Russia-appointed governor, Yevgeny Belitsky wrote on Telegram.

The town is located on a large reservoir along the Dnipro River, which bisects Ukraine, not far from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield accounts from either side.

RT/Reuters