Russia says it is prepared to consider President-elect Donald Trump's plans for ending the Russia-Ukraine war, according to one of the country's senior diplomats.
"Russia is ready to study Trump's proposals on Ukraine, but studying does not mean agreeing," state news agency RIA Novosti posted to Telegram on Wednesday, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
The post follows a statement by Trump on Truth Social Sunday that "Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness." It came after a meeting with the Ukrainian President and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where the three had attended the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
"There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin," Trump's post continued. "Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse." Trump also later told The New York Post that Zelensky was in favor of a ceasefire, and that Vladimir Putin should consider the proposal due to the casualties being endured by Russia in the invasion.
"I'm formulating a concept of how to end that ridiculous war," he added.
Newsweek has contacted the Trump transition team via email for comment.
Ryabkov's recent expression of openness to Trump's proposals came a day after an interview with NBC in which he said the Kremlin would support a prisoner swap akin to the August exchange which involved the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Ryabkov appeared to be saying that such a swap would be a suitable first step in establishing trust with the Trump's incoming administration.
Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for clarification regarding Ryabkov's statement and its stance on Trump's proposals for Ukraine.
The president-elect made a promise on the recent election campaign trail to end the war "in 24 hours"—and Ryabkov last week told CNN that Moscow had not heard anything from him or his team directly. "We only saw what was made public by some people in his entourage. We saw equally some statements by President-elect Trump from his electoral campaign time, when he said that he can resolve this issue in 24 hours," Ryabkov said.
"Twenty-four hours was probably, a word he used in order to attract additional sympathies among voters," he continued. "Some conflicts cannot be even resolved in 24 years, as we see, in the Middle East."
His statement echoes remarks from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, quoted by RIA on Wednesday as saying that although Russia is open to a dialogue with the incoming administration on the Ukraine issue, no substantial proposal for a settlement in the conflict has yet been received.
A few days following his win in the 2024 Presidential election, media reports surfaced claiming that Trump had held a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin. During the call, the pair reportedly discussed Ukraine, with Trump urging the Russian leader against any escalations in the conflict. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later denied that this call had taken place, telling reporters that the story was "pure fiction."
According to the state-owned news agency TASS on Wednesday, Peskov said that no conversation between Trump and Putin was being arranged, and the President-elect's team had not yet made contact regarding this matter.
Zelensky said after the weekend meeting that while his country was in favor of a peaceful resolution, a crucial aspect of any settlement in the conflict was the assurance that "Russia, Putin, or any other aggressor has no possibility of ever returning."
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