President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that his team is in the process of setting up meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“He wants to meet. And we set it up,” he told reporters during a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago club about Putin. “President Xi – we've had a lot of discussion. We've had a lot of meetings set up with a lot of people.
“I'd rather wait until after the 20th,” he added, referring to his inauguration later this month.
“President Putin wants to meet,” Trump added. “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, on Friday 28 June 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Trump pointed to the “shocking” level of casualties endured by Russia and Ukraine and suggested that the number of civilian casualties may be much higher than reported.
The Kremlin confirmed Trump's comments on Friday and said it was ready to “solve the issues through dialogue,” reported Russian news agency Tass.
Trump's nominee for Ukraine and Russia, Gen. Keith Kelloggtold Fox News Digital that he has set himself the goal of ending the war in Ukraine within 100 days of taking office.
Kellogg described the war as “murder” but said he was confident Trump could end the war “in the near future.”
The retired three-star general told Fox News' “America Reports” on Thursday that he and Trump would make sure the ceasefire was “fair” and “adequate,” though he did not he explained what this means up to that point. withdrawing Russian forces from Ukraine's recognized international borders.
Former President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower on Friday, September 27, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Trump has not made clear how he plans to end the three-year war, although he suggested he might support Putin's demand that Ukraine be barred from NATO membership, and told reporters on Thursday that he “could understand (Putin's) opinion about” not. look for NATO “at their door.”
Before its 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 then joined NATO in 2023, requesting membership just 3 months after the Feb. 22, 2022.
Moscow and Kyiv have made it clear that the surrounding regulations NATO members of Ukraine if they are discussed.
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 specify when he might meet with the Chinese president, and it remains unclear whether Xi plans to meet him in person.
Trump has reportedly invited Xi to his inauguration, although Beijing has said it will send a high-level envoy, in keeping with tradition.
In his last meeting with President Biden in November, Xi expressed his willingness to work with the former US president.
However, Trump, who once said he and Xi “love each other,” in late November has promised to hit China with 60% tariffs. and this week he said he would consider using the military to seize the Panama Canal, which the US returned to Panama in 1979 before ending its strategic partnership in 1999.
“The Panama Canal is important to our country and its operation is China – China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama – we didn't give it to China,” he added.
The Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas and the Portuguese ship MSC Elma sail in Lake Gatun 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, DC, for comment.
Trump's transition team did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital about concerns about sparking a military conflict with China in Panama.