Vladimir Putin ‘ready’ for talks with Donald Trump on Ukraine war, nuclear arms: ‘We're waiting for signals…’

Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated his willingness to meet with Donald Trump on Friday — with the ongoing Ukraine war as the key focus. The remarks came hours after the POTUS threatened Russia with tougher economic sanctions if it did not agree to end its nearly three-year offensive.

“Putin is ready. We are waiting for signals (from the US),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

The official however rejected claims made by Donald Trump about the war ending due to a drop in global oil prices. Trump had claimed on Thursday that the OPEC alliance of oil exporting countries shared responsibility for the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine because it has kept oil prices too high. He claimed that the war would “end immediately” if the price came down — and promised to asked Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower oil prices.

“This conflict does not depend on oil prices,” Peskov countered on Friday. 

Peskov said the conflict was instead based on "threats to Russia's national security" and "threats to Russians" living in Ukraine and "the lack of desire and complete refusal of Americans and Europeans to listen to Russia's concerns".

Meanwhile Trump has threatened to impose ‘massive tariffs and sanctions’ against Russia if the war did not end immediately. 

"If they don't settle this war soon, like almost immediately, I'm going to put massive tariffs on Russia, and massive taxes, and also big sanctions," the Republican leader added during a Fox News interview on Thursday.

‘Restore direct contact with Russia’

Putin had also indicated his willingness to discuss Ukraine and nuclear arms with the new US administration earlier this week in a congratulatory message for Donald Trump. Putin also insisted that he wanted to secure a long-lasting peace in Ukraine rather than a short ceasefire.

“We see the statements by the newly elected president of the United States and members of his team about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia. We also hear his statement about the need to do everything possible to prevent World War Three. We of course welcome this attitude and congratulate the elected president of the United States of America on taking office,” he had said on Monday.

(With inputs from agencies)