The Fort Worth Press - Putin ready to meet Trump to talk Ukraine deal

USD -
AED 3.672965
AFN 70.171897
ALL 94.523919
AMD 394.910115
ANG 1.802607
AOA 917.999896
ARS 1022.274597
AUD 1.596985
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.703778
BAM 1.880432
BBD 2.019497
BDT 119.520074
BGN 1.880575
BHD 0.377086
BIF 2956.852792
BMD 1
BND 1.358908
BOB 6.91137
BRL 6.164019
BSD 1.000231
BTN 85.103781
BWP 13.776594
BYN 3.273435
BYR 19600
BZD 2.009595
CAD 1.435375
CDF 2869.999857
CHF 0.897455
CLF 0.036142
CLP 997.270076
CNY 7.296501
CNH 7.308705
COP 4402.03
CRC 502.999539
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 106.00773
CZK 24.169778
DJF 178.107214
DKK 7.17333
DOP 60.82718
DZD 134.157721
EGP 50.915896
ERN 15
ETB 127.189567
EUR 0.961302
FJD 2.316503
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.794849
GEL 2.8096
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.702404
GIP 0.791982
GMD 71.999648
GNF 8640.978311
GTQ 7.703177
GYD 209.254257
HKD 7.771605
HNL 25.389363
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.826027
HUF 398.9806
IDR 16316.9
ILS 3.63612
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.09965
IQD 1310.279188
IRR 42087.502808
ISK 139.198164
JEP 0.791982
JMD 156.408901
JOD 0.709302
JPY 157.305496
KES 129.540033
KGS 86.999763
KHR 4023.645888
KMF 466.124982
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1445.524982
KWD 0.30797
KYD 0.833518
KZT 524.736579
LAK 21908.167974
LBP 89566.609304
LKR 292.966196
LRD 181.539379
LSL 18.281707
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.889891
MAD 10.038071
MDL 18.428896
MGA 4690.624519
MKD 59.152344
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 8.005595
MRU 39.809679
MUR 47.049783
MVR 15.397509
MWK 1734.331888
MXN 20.41728
MYR 4.5055
MZN 63.896031
NAD 18.281707
NGN 1553.570098
NIO 36.811644
NOK 11.347145
NPR 136.167513
NZD 1.767081
OMR 0.385009
PAB 1.000231
PEN 3.733071
PGK 4.054145
PHP 59.0605
PKR 278.303359
PLN 4.088407
PYG 7813.221043
QAR 3.6504
RON 4.786976
RSD 112.535952
RUB 103.248547
RWF 1374.775277
SAR 3.75799
SBD 8.383555
SCR 14.112702
SDG 601.498346
SEK 11.01591
SGD 1.359125
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.799774
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 571.64282
SRD 35.205503
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.751538
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.276034
THB 34.565969
TJS 10.900178
TMT 3.51
TND 3.187197
TOP 2.342099
TRY 35.096495
TTD 6.798954
TWD 32.645019
TZS 2386.243998
UAH 41.986502
UGX 3648.477157
UYU 44.592295
UZS 12877.826488
VES 50.907771
VND 25462.5
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 630.667244
XAG 0.034554
XAU 0.000385
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.763004
XOF 630.630864
XPF 114.655438
YER 250.37505
ZAR 18.369685
ZMK 9001.19968
ZMW 27.680091
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    1.9900

    62.49

    +3.18%

  • CMSC

    -0.1900

    23.93

    -0.79%

  • BCC

    -2.3100

    124.31

    -1.86%

  • AZN

    0.0450

    64.685

    +0.07%

  • BCE

    -0.0200

    23.38

    -0.09%

  • GSK

    -0.1650

    33.525

    -0.49%

  • SCS

    -0.0800

    12.38

    -0.65%

  • RIO

    -0.4400

    58.9

    -0.75%

  • RELX

    -0.4400

    45.89

    -0.96%

  • RYCEF

    0.0300

    7.33

    +0.41%

  • JRI

    -0.0340

    11.996

    -0.28%

  • VOD

    -0.0050

    8.405

    -0.06%

  • CMSD

    -0.2300

    23.53

    -0.98%

  • BP

    -0.0850

    28.455

    -0.3%

  • BTI

    0.0800

    37.08

    +0.22%

  • NGG

    0.1700

    57.94

    +0.29%

Putin ready to meet Trump to talk Ukraine deal
Putin ready to meet Trump to talk Ukraine deal / Photo: © AFP

Putin ready to meet Trump to talk Ukraine deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he was ready for talks at "any time" with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has touted his ability to strike a Ukraine peace deal within hours of coming to office.

Text size:

Trump, who will return to the White House in January, has stoked fears in Kyiv that he could force Ukraine to accept peace on terms favourable to Moscow.

Holding his annual end-of-year press conference, the 72-year-old Kremlin leader said his troops held the upper hand across the battlefield and he only regretted not starting the offensive earlier.

But he was forced to admit he does not know when Russia will take back the western Kursk region where Ukrainian troops launched an incursion in August.

The traditional annual question and answer sessions are largely a televised show while also being a rare setting in which Putin is put on the spot with some uncomfortable questions.

Putin spoke for just under four and a half hours.

Asked about Trump's overtures regarding a possible peace deal, Putin said he would welcome a meeting with the incoming Republican.

"I don't know when I'm going to see him. He isn't saying anything about it. I haven't talked to him in more than four years. I am ready for it, of course. Any time," Putin said.

"If we ever have a meeting with President-elect Trump, I am sure we'll have a lot to talk about," he said, adding that Russia was ready for "negotiations and compromises".

- Kursk offensive -

Russia's troops have been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months, with Putin repeatedly touting their prowess on the battlefield.

But asked by a woman from the Kursk region when residents will be able to return to their homes there, after thousands were evacuated from frontline areas amid the Ukrainian assault, Putin said he could not name a date.

"We will absolutely kick them out. Absolutely. It can't be any other way. But the question of a specific date, I'm sorry, I cannot say right now," he admitted.

Putin was also pressed on economic headwinds facing Russia -- the fallout from a huge ramp-up in military spending and deep labour shortages caused by the conflict.

He insisted that the situation is "stable, despite external threats", citing low unemployment and industrial growth.

Asked about soaring inflation, Putin said that "inflation is a worrying signal," and that price rises for foods such as butter and meat are "unpleasant".

He acknowledged that Western sanctions were also a factor -- while not of "key significance" -- and said he hoped the central bank, expected to raise interest rates again Friday to cool inflation, would take a "balanced" decision.

- Oreshnik 'duel' -

Putin appeared to repeat his threat to strike Kyiv with Russia's new hypersonic ballistic missile, dubbed Oreshnik.

Asked by a military journalist if the weapon had any flaws, Putin suggested a "hi-tech duel" between the West and Russia to test his claims that it is impervious to air defences.

"Let them set some target to be hit, let's say in Kyiv. They will concentrate there all their air defences. And we will launch an Oreshnik strike there and see what happens," Putin proposed.

The 72-year-old condemned the killing of a senior Russian army general in Moscow this week in a bomb attack claimed by Kyiv as "terrorism."

Igor Kirillov was the most senior Russian figure to be killed in an assassination claimed by Kyiv. Russia has arrested the suspected perpetrator.

"Our special services are missing these hits," the former KGB agent said in rare criticism of security services, listing other recent killings.

"We must not allow such very serious blunders to happen."

Asked if he would do anything differently if he could go back to February 2022, when he launched the Ukraine offensive, Putin said he only regretted doing it earlier.

"Knowing what is happening now, I would think that such a decision... should have been taken earlier," he said.

And Russia "should have started preparing for these events, including the special military operation", he said, using Moscow's official term for the conflict.

- Assad's fall not a 'defeat' -

"You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia. I assure you it is not," Putin said.

"We came to Syria 10 years ago so that a terrorist enclave would not be created there like in Afghanistan. On the whole, we have achieved our goal," Putin said.

Putin said he has not yet met Assad, who fled to Moscow as rebels closed in on Damascus, but plans to soon.

The Kremlin chief said Israel was the "main beneficiary" of events in Syria and called for it to withdraw troops from the "territory of Syria".

L.Rodriguez--TFWP