In the wake of the presidential election in the US, focus has fallen on the prospect of talks between new president Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Both men have signalled a willingness to engage in discussions with the other, with each hinting that any negotiations could potentially range beyond the topic of Ukraine.

Stephen Sestanovich, a Russian and Eurasian studies expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former US State Department official, said a limited presence for Kyiv in the talks would be an incentive for Russia’s president.

“For all these blustering exchanges, the thing Putin most wants to hear is that this is a deal Russia and the US will strike by themselves,” he told the New York Times.

He suggested the American leader should factor this in when approaching negotiations, saying: “To keep Putin off balance, Trump has to show him a deal is possible only if it makes sense to Ukraine and our allies.”

Moscow and Washington briefly discussed arms control talks during the Biden administration in 2021.

Wendy Sherman, the former deputy secretary of state, who conducted the talks for the US side, warned that if talks with Russia begin, the Trump administration should be prepared – and conscious of what the Russian leader sought to achieve from the negitiations.

“Putin will want what he has always said he wanted: As much territory as possible, no Ukraine ever in NATO, no Western nuclear weapons in Europe that could target Russia,” she said.

She added that she believed a discussion of a revival of the arms control treaty that has been partly suspended by Russia and expires in February next year, was “likely low on his list”.