Trump announced that he is preparing for his meeting with Putin.

"He wants to meet. And we are preparing," – stated the elected President of the United States in response to journalists' questions. Trump added that Putin had expressed his desire to meet publicly.

"We need to end this war. It’s a bloody mess," – Trump told reporters before a meeting with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

The elected President of the United States did not disclose details of the upcoming meeting, saying he "would prefer to wait until the 20th [of January]" – the day of his inauguration.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on Trump's statement.

On the eve, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that Putin welcomes Trump's desire to establish contact, but no official requests have been received by the Kremlin. According to Peskov, it would be more appropriate to wait until Trump takes office.

The elected President of the United States has repeatedly told reporters that he is "actively working" to end the war in Ukraine. Before winning the election, Trump promised to do this "within 24 hours" and even before his inauguration in January, but did not provide any specifics. On January 7, at a press conference in Florida, Trump stated that he hopes to conclude hostilities between the two countries within six months.

"Maybe a little sooner. Russia is losing a lot of young people, and the same goes for Ukraine. This should never have started. Such a war should never have occurred," – said the elected President.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, previously stated that Trump could play a decisive role in the outcome of the 34-month war with Russia and help stop Putin. However, there are concerns in Kyiv that a quick peace deal could cost Ukraine too much.

Kit Kellogg, nominated for the position of special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, stated that Donald Trump does not intend to make concessions to the Kremlin, but rather aims to protect Ukraine.

"In fact, he is trying to save Ukraine and its sovereignty," – noted Kellogg. In his opinion, Trump is capable of offering an acceptable solution to end the war in the near future. The special envoy believes that a timeframe could be set at 100 days.