Several  nations have expressed their willingness to facilitate discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, according to Yury Ushakov, an aide to Kremlin.

During a press conference on Monday, Ushakov was inquired about whether Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had proposed to host a meeting between the leaders of the two nuclear powers.

“We have received various proposals from different nations,” he informed the media. “I will refrain from naming specific countries to avoid influencing any potential outcomes. However, such proposals have indeed been made and continue to be made.”

President-elect Donald Trump has asserted that he could swiftly mediate a resolution between Russia and Ukraine, expressing his readiness to engage with Putin at the earliest opportunity. Nevertheless, the Kremlin stated on Sunday that there are currently no concrete plans for a meeting.

Reports indicate that Trump’s team is contemplating a freeze of the conflict along the existing front lines, a notion that both Russia and Ukraine have deemed unacceptable. Moscow maintains that Ukraine must abandon its NATO aspirations and relinquish claims to Crimea and four other regions that are now part of Russia.

Peace negotiations that took place in Belarus and Türkiye collapsed in the spring of 2022, with both parties accusing each other of setting unrealistic demands. Putin later remarked that Ukrainian negotiators abruptly left the discussions after initially agreeing to make Ukraine a neutral state and limit its military capabilities. In 2024, senior US State Department official Victoria Nuland stated that Washington and its allies had advised Kiev against accepting the terms proposed by Moscow.

Switzerland, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia have shown interest in facilitating negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, while China, Brazil, and Indonesia have proposed frameworks aimed at resolving the conflict.

In a departure from other NATO allies, Hungary and Slovakia have voiced their opposition to unconditional support for Ukraine, advocating for a resolution through diplomatic channels.

Earlier this month, Orban and Putin engaged in a detailed phone conversation regarding the situation in Ukraine, as reported by the Kremlin. Additionally, Fico made an unexpected trip to Moscow on Monday, where he informed reporters after meeting with Putin that Ukraine’s choice not to extend a natural gas transit contract would adversely affect Slovakia’s economy, given that Slovakia relies on Russian gas transported through Ukrainian territory.