Washington, 10 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said preparations were underway for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.

"[Putin] wants to meet, and we're in the process of setting that up," Trump said as he answered questions from reporters during a meeting with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Trump said that details were still "to be determined."

"But President Putin wants to meet. He's said that even publicly, and we have to get that war over with. That's a bloody mess," Trump said of the conflict.

During the electoral campaign, Trump, who is due to be sworn in as president on January 20, often praised his relationship with Putin and claimed he could end the war in Ukraine "within 24 hours," without ever revealing any details of how he would do that.

Earlier in the week, Trump had expressed hope that the war would end within six months. "I hope long before six months," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Ukraine has been resisting the Russian full-scale invasion with Western assistance for almost three years.

Kiev fears that when Trump takes office, US aid will be sharply reduced. During his New Year's address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued an appeal to Washington not to cut aid to Ukraine.