With your profile, you can get this information with Fox News for no cost, as well as exclusive access to selected articles and other premium information. By submitting your email address and pressing continue, you agree to Fox News ‘ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Please provide a valid internet address. By submitting your email address and pressing continue, you agree to Fox News ‘ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Having problems? Visit here. As long as the U.S. makes the first move, Russia is willing to work with President-elect Donald Trump to strengthen relationships with Ukraine, according to Kremlin officials this week, giving new hope for the start of peace talks as Ukraine’s conflict threatens to linger into a second time. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated to reporters on Thursday that the United States may be ready to negotiate its” specific military function” in Ukraine, in keeping with the Kremlin’s terminology when it came to describing its conflict in Ukraine. ” We will answer to the signals coming from the new staff in Washington to resume the dialogue that Washington had cut off after a special military operation [the war in Ukraine ] is critical, of course,” Lavrov said in Moscow. However, he argued that the United States should act first, citing the fact that” the Americans broke the discourse, so they should make the first move.” ” I think both sides are ready”, Kellogg said in the meeting. ” After a thousand days of war, with 350, 000, 400, 000 Russian]soldiers] over, and 150, 000 Ukrainian dead, or statistics like that — both sides are saying,’ okay, maybe this is the day, and we need to move up. Russia has lost tens of thousands of men in the conflict to time. As of this drop, an average of 1, 200 soldiers were killed or injured per day, according to U. S. quotes. In Ukraine, the government’s energy infrastructure has seen severe damage as the result of a lengthy Russian bombing campaign, designed to crumble portions of the power grid, fall the country into darkness, and finally, wear down the resolve of the Russian people. Russia recently launched a Christmas Day bombardment against Ukraine’s power grid, directing about 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and 100 strike drones to hit critical energy infrastructure in the nation. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed Putin made the decision to celebrate Christmas by making a “deliberate” decision. ” What could be more inhuman”? he said in a statement. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military has lost around 40 % of the land it seized in Russia’s Kursk region — a loss that could further erode morale. Next week, Kellogg will travel to Ukraine in January for what he described as an information-gathering trip as a result of his remarks. He said he was only interested in putting forth more details about what he would like to accomplish during the visit and that he thought incoming President Trump might be the “referee” and that both nations are ready to end the protracted war. ” Think of a cage fight. You’ve got two fighters, and both want to tap out. You need a referee to sort of separate them, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who cited an offer made by the country’s prime minister earlier this week. The FOX NEWS APP is available by clicking here for more coverage of the Fox News story. Fox News inquired whether Ukraine would be willing to discuss the peace talks or whether Slovakia’s invitation to host would be considered.