Putin says Russia is ready to compromise with Trump on Ukraine war

Putin also said he was ready to organise another missile launch at Ukraine and see if Western air defence systems could shoot it down

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Putin fielded questions on state TV during his annual question and answer session with Russians. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:36pm, 19 Dec 2024Updated: 8:48pm, 19 Dec 2024

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with Donald Trump on ending the war and that Russian forces were moving towards achieving their primary goals on the battlefield.

Trump, a self-styled master of brokering agreements and author of the 1987 book Trump: the Art of the Deal, has vowed to swiftly end the conflict, but has not yet given any details on how he might achieve that.

Putin, fielding questions on state TV during his annual question and answer session with Russians, told a reporter for a US news channel that he was ready to meet Trump, whom he said he had not spoken to for years.

Asked what he might be able to offer Trump, Putin dismissed an assertion that Russia was in a weak position, saying that Russia had got much stronger since he ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow. Photo: AFP

“We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises,” Putin said after saying that Russian forces, advancing across the entire front, were moving towards achieving their primary goals in Ukraine.