Trump setting up meeting with Putin, in communication with Xi

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that his team is working to set up meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“He wants to meet. And we’re arranging that,” he told reporters during a Putin-related news conference from his Mar-a-Lago club. “President Xi – we’ve had a lot of communication. We’ve arranged a lot of meetings with a lot of people.

“I’d rather wait until the 20th,” he added regarding his inauguration date 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, Friday, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Trump pointed to the “staggering” casualty rate suffered by Russia and Ukraine and suggested that the number of civilian casualties was also likely to be significantly higher than what was reported.

The Kremlin confirmed Trump’s comments on Friday and said it was ready to “solve problems through dialogue,” Russian news agency Tass reported.

Trump has appointed a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Gene. Keith Kelloggtold Fox News Digital that he had set a goal of ending the war in Ukraine within 100 days of taking office.

Kellogg described the war as “carnage” but said he was confident Trump could end the war “soon.”

The retired three-star general told Fox News’ “America Reports” on Thursday that he and Trump will make sure the cease-fire agreement is “fair” and “fair,” though he did not elaborate on what that would mean with the withdrawal of Russian forces from internationally recognized borders. of Ukraine.

Former President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Trump did not elaborate on how he intended to end the three-year war, although he suggested he might support Putin’s request to bar Ukraine from NATO, telling reporters on Thursday that he “can understand [Putin’s] the feeling that they “don’t want NATO” on their doorstep.

Before the 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, applying for membership just 3 months after the February 22, 2022 invasion.

Moscow and Kiev have made it clear that the provisions surrounding membership of Ukraine in NATO they are not negotiable.

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Then-President Trump, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, 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 with him in person.

Trump has reportedly invited Xi to his inauguration ceremony, although Beijing has said it will send a top-level envoy instead, which is more in line with tradition.

In his last meeting with President Biden in November, Xi expressed his willingness to cooperate with the former and future president of the United States.

However, Trump, who once said he and Xi “love each other,” in late November promised to hit China with tariffs of 60%. and then this week he said he would consider using military action to retake the Panama Canal, which the US returned to Panama in 1979 before ending its partnership over control of the strategic waterway in 1999.

“The Panama Canal is vital to our country and it is managed by China – China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama – we did not give it to China,” he added.

The Marshall Islands cargo ship Cape Hellas and the Portuguese cargo ship MSC Elma sail through 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 provoking a military conflict with China in Panama.