Vladimir Putin says he is ready for talks with Donald Trump on Ukraine war

According to Putin, Trump could prevent the conflict from starting in 2022.

Responding promptly, Kyiv has warned against being excluded from negotiations.

The Russian leader did not specify when talks would take place, while the Kremlin earlier said it was still waiting for "signals" from Washington.

Meanwhile, Trump Thursday announced that he was willing to meet Putin "immediately".

"We have always said, and I want to emphasise this once again, that we are ready for these negotiations on Ukrainian issues," Putin told a reporter from Russian state TV as quoted by AFP.

Calling Trump a "smart" and "pragmatic" man, Putin also repeated the Republican's unfounded claim that he won the US presidential election against Joe Biden in 2020.

"I cannot but agree with him that if he had been president -- if his victory hadn't been stolen in 2020 -- then maybe there would not have been the crisis in Ukraine that emerged in 2022," Putin said.

Donald Trump Wednesday warned Putin of tariff hikes and more sanctions if he fails to strike a deal to end the Ukraine war "now".

"If we don't make a 'deal,' and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries," Trump had said on his Truth Social network.

Even before his inauguration on Jan 20, Trump had vowed to end the Ukraine war before even taking office, raising expectations he would leverage aid to force Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.