Putin ready to talk to Trump on Ukraine issue?

Washington: Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for talks with US President Donald Trump regarding the Ukraine conflict but is waiting for signals from Washington.

The Ukraine conflict has plunged relations between the two nuclear powers to their lowest levels since the Cold War, with Trump repeatedly promising to end the fighting with a “deal”.

He told reporters on Thursday he would meet Putin “immediately”, and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to negotiate.

“Putin is ready. We are waiting for signals,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Trump’s overtures.

Peskov said that he could not comment further on a possible meeting between the leaders, saying it was “hard to read coffee grounds” to predict the future.

Trump has threatened Russia with tougher economic sanctions if it does not agree to end its nearly three-year offensive.

“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 said during a Fox News interview on Thursday.

The Kremlin rejected Trump’s claim that the conflict in Ukraine could be ended by lowering the price of oil used to fund Moscow’s budget, saying: “This conflict does not depend on oil prices.”