Russia says it sees window of opportunity to negotiate with Trump administration

Russia Sees Opportunity for Talks with Trump's Administration

(Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow sees a small window of opportunity to forge agreements with the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, the Interfax news agency reported.

"We cannot say anything today about the degree of the incoming administration's capacity to negotiate, but still, compared to the hopelessness in every aspect of the previous White House chief (Joe Biden), there is a window of opportunity today, albeit a small one," Ryabkov said, according to Interfax.

"It's therefore important to understand with what and whom we will have to deal, how best to build relations with Washington, how best to maximise opportunities and minimise risks," he said, speaking at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, a think-tank in Moscow.

Trump, who took office on Monday, has said he could end the war in Ukraine swiftly, without specifying how.

He warned on Tuesday that he would likely impose more sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate to end the nearly three-year-old conflict.

Trump gave no details on the possible additional sanctions on Russia, which is already under significant Western sanctions over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)