Astana: Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Thursday that he takes US presidential candidate Donald Trump's comments on ending the conflict in Ukraine seriously. Trump had declared during a debate with President Joe Biden last week that if elected, he would have the conflict "settled" before taking office in January 2025.

"The fact that Mr. Trump, as a presidential candidate, is saying that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take that quite seriously," Putin said at a press conference in Astana.

While Russia typically refers to its military actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation," Putin acknowledged that he was "not familiar" with Trump's specific proposals to end the ongoing fighting, now in its third year. "That, of course, is the key question," he remarked. "But I have no doubt that he says it sincerely, and we support it," he added.

Putin has consistently claimed to be open to negotiations to end the conflict. However, he recently demanded that Ukraine capitulate as a precondition for a ceasefire. The Kremlin leader called for Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the south and east of the country, vacating territories currently held by Ukrainian forces, if it wanted Russia's offensive to cease.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire, arguing that Russia would use the opportunity to regroup and rearm. Kyiv insists on the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from the country, including the Crimea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, as part of any settlement. Additionally, Ukraine demands that Russia compensate for the damage and destruction caused by the conflict.

Despite a largely unsuccessful Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023, Russian troops have made modest advances on the battlefield this year.