The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia remained open to a meeting between President Vladimir V. Putin and President-elect Donald J. Trump, but that any concrete steps to set up such talks could only be taken after Mr. Trump is sworn in on January 20.

Responding to the comments of Mr. Trump on Thursday, who said that Mr. Putin wants to meet with him to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman reaffirmed Russia’s long-standing official position that Moscow is ready to talk.

“We need mutual desire and political will to engage in dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told reporters. “We see that Mr. Trump is also declaring his willingness to resolve the issue through dialogue. “We welcome that.”

Mr. Peskov added that the Kremlin understands there is a “mutual willingness to meet” but, he said, “things seem to move once Trump enters the Oval Office.”

Mr. Peskov did not confirm that Mr. Putin had requested a meeting with Mr. Trump or that such a meeting was being prepared. as Mr. Trump said on Thursday night.

Although it claims territorial claims over its five regions in Ukraine, the Kremlin insists it would prefer diplomacy to war.

Ukraine and some of its Western allies have questioned the seriousness of Russia’s offer for talks and said the Kremlin’s terms are effectively a demand for Ukraine’s capitulation.

After being largely isolated from the West for nearly three years since the invasion of Ukraine, a meeting with the US president would be an opportunity for Mr. Putin to negotiate with a friendly American administration.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, without saying how, but this week suggested that it could take up to six months.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he understood Russia’s position that Ukraine should never join NATO, one of the main conditions the Kremlin has put forward for ending the war.

Mr. Trump’s victory in November produced a wave of cautious optimism that the war may end soon, even if the truce is shaky. But analysts said the process would be difficult and tedious, and many in Ukraine and elsewhere fear that Mr. Trump could push through the deal at the expense of his capitulation.

In Russia, Giorgy Bovt, a political analyst, said that if the meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin happens too soon, when “the conditions for peace have not yet matured”, it could “lead to a greater escalation”.

“Both warring parties are still betting on continued military action,” Mr Bovt wrote fast on Telegram, a popular messaging app. “They do not consider their strength exhausted.”

Tatiana Stanovaya, senior associate at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote on social networks that “the higher the expectations” from the meeting “the riskier the game, especially for Trump”.