Russia: We're All Ears on Trump's Plans for Ukraine

Russia is open to hearing President-elect Donald Trump's proposals on ending the war, an official said, as a Russian drone killed one person and wounded 13 in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and the European Union foreign policy chief held talks in Kyiv after the change in US leadership. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Moscow and Washington were "exchanging signals" on Ukraine via "closed channels." He didn't specify whether the communication was with the current administration, or with Trump and members of his incoming administration, per the AP. Russia is ready to listen to Trump's proposals on Ukraine, provided these were "ideas on how to move forward in the area of settlement, and not in the area of further pumping the Kyiv regime with all kinds of aid," Ryabkov said Saturday in an interview with Russian state news agency Interfax.

In Kyiv, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters that Ukraine is ready to work with the Trump administration. "Remember that President [Volodymyr] Zelensky was one of the first world leaders ... to greet President Trump," he said. "It was a sincere conversation [and] an exchange of thoughts regarding further cooperation." Sybiha added that "further steps to establish communication between teams were discussed, and this work has also begun. Therefore, we are open for further cooperation, and I'm sure that a unified goal of reaching just peace unites all of us." Sybiha appeared alongside EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who said his visit is meant to stress the European Union's support to Ukraine. "This support remains unwavering. This support is absolutely needed, for you to continue defending yourself against Russian aggression," he said.

Borrell urged "faster deliveries and fewer self-imposed red lines" in getting Western weapons to Ukraine. He'd appealed to allies in August to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike Russian military targets. Russia is mounting an intensified aerial campaign that Ukrainian officials say they need more Western help to counter. However, doubts are deepening over what Kyiv can expect from a new US administration. Trump has repeatedly taken issue with US aid to Ukraine, made vague vows to end the war, and has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin. (More Russia stories.)