Donald Trump has said that a meeting is being set up between him and Vladimir Putin to end the “bloody mess” of the war in Ukraine.

President-elect Donald Trump said he is planning a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he wants to end the "bloody mess" of the Ukraine war.

Ukraine expects high-level contact with the new U.S. administration immediately after Donald Trump takes office, including an eventual meeting between the U.S. president-elect and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,

Donald Trump said that as president he would be able to resolve the Ukraine war in one day, speaking at a Republican presidential town hall Wednesday hosted by CNN. Photo: CNN

Donald Trump said talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were in the works and while the president-elect provided no timeline, he stressed that his preference would be for after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

The president-elect had said Russia’s leader wanted to meet him to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said it welcomed such dialogue, but a meeting could occur only after Mr. Trump took office.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet President-elect Trump without conditions, the Kremlin said on Friday, but is waiting for more specifics following the U.S. presidential inauguration.

President-elect Trump said late Thursday that a meeting is in the works with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. Why it matters: Trump said on the campaign trail that he would swiftly end the nearly three-year-old war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.