Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that he is open to discussions with his US counterpart Donald Trump on issues such as the war in Ukraine and energy prices, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
At the same time, Putin said in response to a journalist's question that negotiations with Kiev are complicated by the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree prohibiting negotiations with Moscow.
"I have always had business relations with the current US president, extremely business, but at the same time I would say pragmatic, trusting relations," Putin also said, quoted by TASS.
If "they had not stolen Trump's victory" in the previous elections, the current crisis in Ukraine would not have occurred, the Russian president added.
Putin noted that Russia has never refused contacts with the United States and that they were rejected by former US President Joe Biden. Under Biden, the US imposed numerous restrictions on Moscow, but they harmed themselves, the Russian head of state said. Trump is a "pragmatic and intelligent person" and is unlikely to decide on sanctions against Russia that would harm the US economy, he added.
Putin said that Russia "may have a lot in common" with the current US government.
The Russian leader also said that the current Ukrainian leadership is illegitimate at the moment and that this causes a dangerous legal contradiction that will undermine any outcome of the negotiations.