President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that his team is working on setting up meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Regarding Putin, he told reporters during a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago club, “He wants to meet. And we are setting it up.” “President Xi – we have had a lot of dialogue. We have held a lot of meetings with a lot of people.
“I would prefer to wait until after the 20th,” he said in reference to his inauguration date later this month.
“President Putin wants to meet,” Trump said. “We have to end that war.”
Then-President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Friday, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Trump pointed to the “shocking” casualty rates suffered by both Russia and Ukraine and suggested that civilian casualties were also likely significantly higher than reported.
The Kremlin confirmed Trump’s comments on Friday and said it was “ready to solve problems through dialogue,” Russian news agency Tass reported.
Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s appointed special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told Fox News Digital that he has set a goal of ending the war in Ukraine within 100 days of taking the top job.
Kellogg described the war as “genocide” but said he was confident Trump could end the war in the “near term.”
The retired three-star general told Fox News’ “America Reports” on Thursday that he and Trump are going to make sure the ceasefire agreement is “fair” and “equitable,” though he did not specify what that meant. . Withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.
Former President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Demri Nikhinson)
Trump has not said how he wants to end the three-year-long war, although he suggested he might support Putin’s demand that Ukraine be barred from entering the NATO alliance, and told reporters Thursday Said he could “understand” [Putin’s] Feeling about “not wanting NATO” on your doorstep.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow already had four countries on its borders that were members of the international security alliance, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Finland joined NATO in 2023, and applied for membership just 3 months after the invasion on February 22, 2022.
Moscow and Kiev have made it clear that the terms related to Ukraine’s NATO membership cannot be compromised.
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Then-President Trump, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Trump did not say when he might meet the Chinese president, and it was unclear whether Xi planned to meet him in person.
Trump reportedly invited Xi to his inauguration ceremony, although Beijing said it would send a top-level envoy instead, in line with tradition.
In his last meeting with President Biden in November, Xi had expressed his desire to work with the former and soon-to-be President of the United States.
However, Trump, who once said he and Xi loved each other, promised to impose 60% tariffs on China in late November and then this week said he would seize the Panama Canal. Will consider using military action, which the US backed off. in 1979 before Panama ended their partnership over control of the strategic route in 1999.
He said, “The Panama Canal is important to our country and it is being operated by China-China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama – we did not give it to China.”
Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas and Portuguese cargo ship MSC Alma sail on Gatun Lake near the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon City, Panama on December 28, 2024. (Arnulfo Franco/AFP via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the Panamanian embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
The Trump transition team did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital on concerns that Panama could trigger a military confrontation with China.
