MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is open for talks with President-elect Donald Trump and praised him for pointing to NATO’s plan to embrace Ukraine as a root cause of the nearly 3-year-old conflict.

Russia says it has detected a shift from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his team towards recognising the "realities" on the ground in Ukraine, and sees this as a welcome sign as it prepares to study his plan for ending the war.

Russia’s nearly three-year invasion of Ukraine has become a “war of attrition” and a “stalemate” that must be ended, Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of state,

Russia is prepared to study U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's peace initiatives on Ukraine when he takes office next week, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. Lavrov cautioned that Trump's comments on the war - which he previously said he could end within 24 hours of entering the White House - were being made before his inauguration,