"He (President Putin) wants to meet and we are arranging this," Reuters on January 10 quoted President-elect Donald Trump at a meeting with Republican governors at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach (Florida) on January 9 (local time).

"President Putin wants to meet with me, he has even said so publicly, and we have to end the conflict (in Ukraine)," according to Mr. Trump.

Earlier on January 9, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Mr. Putin welcomed Mr. Trump's goodwill to contact him, but so far Russia has not received any official request.

Mr. Peskov also said that the Trump-Putin meeting, if any, should take place after Mr. Trump takes office as US President.

Despite vowing to bring a resolution to the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours, Trump has not offered any concrete proposals that could lead to a ceasefire or peace talks, and has frequently criticized the Biden administration for providing too much aid to Kyiv.

The United States under President Biden has become the most enthusiastic supporter of Ukraine, providing more than $65 billion in military aid since February 2022.

In another development, Chinese President Xi Jinping will send a high-level delegation to attend President-elect Trump's inauguration on his behalf, the Financial Times reported on January 9.

According to informed sources, the head of the Chinese delegation could be Vice President Han Zheng or Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Beijing has not commented on this information.