Russia says it is willing to work with Trump to improve Ukraine relations

Russia has signaled it is willing to work with President-elect Donald Trump to improve relations with Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday during a press briefing that the country would be willing to start negotiations if the U.S. made the first move, according to Fox News.

"If the signals that are coming from the new team in Washington to restore the dialogue that Washington interrupted after the start of a special military operation [the war in Ukraine] are serious, of course, we will respond to them," he said in Moscow. 

Lavrov emphasized that the U.S. had to make the first move since it was the country that suggested the dialogue. 

His comments follow those of Trump's pick for Ukraine envoy, retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, who told Fox News in an interview this month that both Russia and Ukraine appear to be willing to negotiate an end to the war.

"I think both sides are ready," Kellogg said. "After a thousand days of war, with 350,000, 400,000 Russian [soldiers] down, and 150,000 Ukrainian dead, or numbers like that — both sides are saying, 'okay, maybe this is the time, and we need to step back.'"

Zelensky said last month that the main condition for such an agreement would be NATO membership for the parts of Ukraine that are not controlled by Russia.