by ZeroHedge News Staff at ZeroHedge
“I will meet Donald with pleasure” – that’s what President Putin expressed Wednesday in a brief televised interview with RT. He further outlined some conditions for such a meeting, saying that it can’t just involve sitting for some tea or coffee, but both the Russian and American diplomatic teams which met in Riyadh the day prior must thoroughly prepare to negotiate issues most important to each, particularly the Ukraine crisis.
Interestingly, Putin described that Trump’s timetable for achieving peace in Ukraine changed and this was inevitable and ‘natural’ – given that upon entering office he was able to see the fuller scope of intelligence information, and the greater complexities of the conflict. Putin made mention of the potential for peace within six months (referencing the White House change), in contrast to Trump on the campaign trail talking just ‘days’.
‘I will meet Donald with pleasure’ – Putin
Putin lays out the conditions for meeting https://t.co/lICjGuSqrf pic.twitter.com/4UxB7rzLtm
— RT (@RT_com) February 19, 2025
Putin also called the Trump team ‘completely different’ in terms of positive openness and willingness to work with Moscow, in contrast to the prior Biden administration, and given the Riyadh meeting took place without bias and on “friendly” terms, and with no “condemnation of what had been done in the past” – meaning the two sides showed willingness to move forward and not rehash a blame-game.
Of the Tuesday Saudi-hosted talks, which lasted four-and-half hours, Putin described: “It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing trust between Russia and the United States” – and stressed that the process is about restoring this trust, toward a resolution of the conflict.
He was further quoted in Interfax saying of the talks: “Yes, I have been informed. I rate them highly, there are results.”
As for Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,…
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