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Russia Says It Welcomes Trump's Readiness to Solve Problems through Dialogue

File photo: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow, Russia December 7, 2023. Sergei Bobylev, Reuters via Sputnik
File photo: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow, Russia December 7, 2023. Sergei Bobylev, Reuters via Sputnik
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Russia Says It Welcomes Trump's Readiness to Solve Problems through Dialogue

File photo: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow, Russia December 7, 2023. Sergei Bobylev, Reuters via Sputnik
File photo: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow, Russia December 7, 2023. Sergei Bobylev, Reuters via Sputnik

Russia welcomes the stated willingness of US President-elect Donald Trump to resolve problems through dialogue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, reaffirming Russian President Vladimir Putin's readiness for talks with Trump.
There may be progress on setting up a meeting between Trump and Putin after Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, Peskov told reporters. Trump said on Thursday a meeting was being set up between him and Putin, but offered no timeline.
Trump said repeatedly during his election campaign that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours, but he and advisers have suggested more recently that it could be resolved within months of him taking office.
His impending return to the White House has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution, but it has also led to fears in Kyiv that a quick peace deal could come at a high price for Ukraine.
Peskov said Putin had repeatedly stated his willingness to hold talks with international leaders, including Trump.
"No conditions are required for this, (only) a mutual desire and political will to conduct a dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue is required," he said.
"We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue, we welcome this."
Peskov said there were no specific plans for a meeting yet, but that Russia was working on the assumption that both sides were open to it. "Apparently, after Mr. Trump enters the Oval Office, there will be some movement."
Trump said on Thursday: "President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That's a bloody mess."
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.
Peskov said Russia's position was consistent as laid out by Putin last June. Putin said then that Russia was willing to end the war if Ukraine renounced its NATO membership ambitions and withdrew entirely from four regions that Russia partly controls and has claimed as its own.
Kyiv rejected that as tantamount to surrender.
While speaking positively of Trump, Peskov was highly critical of outgoing President Joe Biden.
He said the Biden administration, in its final 10 days, "intends to continue doing everything to continue the war", including possible new sanctions against Russia.
"We are aware that the administration will certainly try to leave the most burdensome legacy in terms of bilateral relations for the incoming Trump and his associates," said Peskov.

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US House Votes to Sanction International Criminal Court over Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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US House Votes to Sanction International Criminal Court over Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024. (Reuters)

The US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court in protest at its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's campaign in Gaza.

The vote was 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would sanction any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes US citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of the court.

Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill. No Republican voted against it.

"America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel," Representative Brian Mast, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a House speech before the vote.

The House vote, one of the first since the new Congress was seated last week, underscored strong support among President-elect Donald Trump's fellow Republicans for Israel's government, now that they control both chambers in Congress.

The ICC said it noted the bill with concern and warned it could rob victims of atrocities of justice and hope.

"The court firmly condemns any and all actions intended to threaten the court and its officials, undermine its judicial independence and its mandate and deprive millions of victims of international atrocities across the world of justice and hope," it said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Trump's first administration imposed sanctions on the ICC in 2020 in response to investigations into war crimes in Afghanistan, including allegations of torture by US citizens.

Those sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden's administration, though Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in May last year that it was willing to work with Congress to potentially impose new sanctions on the ICC over the prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Five years ago, then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and other staff had credit cards and bank accounts frozen and US travel impeded.

ICC watchers said the new sanctions would make it possible to target individuals assisting the work of the court.

"The bill is also broad because anyone who provides support to the court on any case exposes themselves to sanctions," Milena Sterio, international law expert at Cleveland State University, told Reuters.

SANCTIONS COULD 'JEOPARDIZE' ICC, ITS PRESIDENT SAYS

In December, the court's president, judge Tomoko Akane, told the ICC's 125 member nations that "these measures would rapidly undermine the Court's operations in all situations and cases and jeopardize its very existence".

Trump will be sworn in on Jan. 20 for a second term as president.

The Senate's newly appointed Republican majority leader, John Thune, has promised swift consideration of the sanctions act in his chamber so that Trump can sign it into law shortly after taking office.

The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.

The court has said its decision to pursue warrants against the Israeli officials was in line with its approach in all cases, based on an assessment by the prosecutor that there was enough evidence to proceed, and the view that seeking arrest warrants immediately could prevent ongoing crimes.

Congressional Republicans have been denouncing the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his ex-defense chief Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 15-month-old Gaza conflict. Israel denies the allegations.