President Joe Biden has stood out among United States presidents in his refusal for years to talk with the leader of the Russia government. This refusal to talk with Russia President Vladimir Putin has been particularly precarious because over the same time period the US has been delivering large quantities of money, weapons, and intelligence to Ukraine to prop up a military effort against Russia that threatens to spiral into a third world war.
Fortunately, Donald Trump, who is set to succeed Biden as US president on Monday, appears to be following a different course regarding communication between the US and Russian governments, as well as regarding the ongoing Ukraine War. Speaking at a January 9 press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Trump declared that “President Putin wants to meet” and that a meeting is being set up. “We have to get that war over with” and “that’s a bloody mess,” Trump further stated. “And that’s a war that would have never happened if I were president, and that’s a war that I’m gonna try really to stop as quickly as I can,” continued Trump.
On Monday, Putin in public comments congratulated incoming President Donald Trump on his inauguration and declared a desire that dialog restart. “And now we see their statements about wishing to restore their contacts with Russia suspended by the previous administration,” and “we’ve heard his commitment to do everything to prevent World War III,” noted Putin. “Of course, we welcome this approach,” stated Putin who further explained that “we’ve never been against dialog; we have always been ready to maintain peaceful relationship with any American administration.”
Let the dialogue begin, and with it, hopefully, as Putin states in his inauguration day comments “a long-term peace based on respect to lawful interests of all people and nationalities living in the region.”
