“We have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” says U.S. president-elect about the Russian ruler’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wanted to meet and that a rendezvous between the pair was being arranged.

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that a meeting was being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump, however, did not share any timeline for talks.

The US president-elect has said previously that he wants to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday a meeting was being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the Republican offered no timeline for talks between the two leaders. Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20 has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow's invasion of Ukraine that began in Feb. 2022, but it has also led to fears in Kyiv that a quick peace deal could come at a high price for Ukraine. Advisers to Trump have floated proposals to end the war that would effectively cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future.