“Putin wants to meet.” Trump hopes that he will be able to end the war in Ukraine in six months

“I hope [на завершення війни]much earlier than six months later. Russia and Ukraine are losing a lot of young people,” Trump said.

He also said he knew Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “wants to meet,” but noted that the meeting could only happen after his January 20 inauguration.

“This is a war that should never have happened. I guarantee you, if I were president, this war would never have happened,” Trump repeated.

He also said outside the press conference that he “can understand” Russia’s position on Ukraine’s membership in NATO and accused Joe Biden’s administration of provoking the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine.

To the journalist’s clarifying question, whether he sees Ukraine as a member of NATO, Trump answered that it is his vision “was always clear.”

“I think they had a deal [ймовірно, Росії таУкраїни]but Biden violated it. An agreement that would be very satisfactory for Ukraine and for everyone else, but Biden said that they should be able to join NATO,” the president-elect believes.

Prospects of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine — what is known

On November 20, 2024, the Reuters agency wrote that Putin is ready to discuss a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine with Donald Trump, but rejects any significant territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon its ambitions to join NATO.

He also claimed that the aggressor country is supposedly always ready for “negotiations” and “compromises” with regard to Ukraine. Before that, he made it clear that he would not agree to freezing the war.

On December 20, The Washington Post wrote that Trump will meet Putin in 2025. However, analysts believe that there is little hope for a peace agreement given Putin’s maximalist position and Trump’s fear of looking weak if he makes concessions to the Russian Federation.

On December 26, Putin said that Slovakia could become a “negotiating platform” for negotiations with Ukraine. At the same time, the dictator rejected Trump’s “peace plan” for Ukraine, which includes Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO for 10 years, according to ISW analysts.

President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine does not yet have sufficient strength to regain the borders of 1991. The state is ready to return, in particular, Crimea through diplomatic channels.

On January 5, 2025, The Telegraph reported that the next presidential administration in the United States may try to convene a conference on Ukraine in the near future.