Kremlin Says It Has Yet to Hear from US About Setting up a Possible Putin-Trump Meeting 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits the Moscow State University (MSU) in Moscow on January 24, 2025. (Sputnik/AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits the Moscow State University (MSU) in Moscow on January 24, 2025. (Sputnik/AFP)
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Kremlin Says It Has Yet to Hear from US About Setting up a Possible Putin-Trump Meeting 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits the Moscow State University (MSU) in Moscow on January 24, 2025. (Sputnik/AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin visits the Moscow State University (MSU) in Moscow on January 24, 2025. (Sputnik/AFP)

The Kremlin said on Monday it had yet to receive any signals from the United States about arranging a possible meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, but remained ready to organize such an encounter.

"So far, we have not received any signals from the Americans", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

"(Russia's) readiness (for a meeting) remains, and the same readiness, as far as we have heard, remains on the American side. Apparently, a certain amount of time is required (to set something up)," he said.

Putin said on Friday that he and Trump should meet to talk about the Ukraine war and energy prices, issues that the US president has highlighted in the first days of his new administration.

Trump, who took office last week, has also said that he wants to meet Putin and that he wants to end the war, which he has cast as "ridiculous."



Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The death toll from powerful winter storms in the central and eastern United States has risen to at least 14, officials said Monday, after floods, gale-force winds and bitterly cold temperatures swept the region.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday of a winter storm system carrying arctic air that would cause "record cold," with wind chill expected to hit as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit (-51 degrees Celsius) in Montana and North Dakota.

"I've got more tough news. The death toll in Kentucky has now risen to 12," said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in a social media post on Monday, raising the toll from eight a day earlier.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said on Monday his state had also seen at least one death from the weather, AFP reported.

"We have one confirmed fatality at this time," he told a press briefing, warning that further flooding was expected. "There are still several people who are missing."

In addition, one person died in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The victim was killed when an "extremely large" tree fell on his house early Sunday, fire official Scott Powell told local media.

Most of the dead in Kentucky, Beshear said in an earlier news conference, drowned when trapped in their vehicles by fast-rising floodwaters. The victims included a mother and her child.

The governor urged people to stay off roads across the state, where local and federal authorities have declared a state of emergency.

Beshear said more than 1,000 people had been rescued by first responders within 24 hours.

In its Monday advisory, the NWS warned that the cold weather system would impact a vast area, sending temperatures tumbling in the central plains, the eastern seaboard and as far south as the Gulf coast.

"A bitter cold arctic airmass is expected to continue impacting the north-central US while also spreading further south and east over the next few days," the advisory said.

Power to thousands of homes had been restored by Monday, but more than 50,000 customers remained without electricity in the states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us.