Russia welcomes the stated willingness of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to resolve problems through dialogue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, reaffirming Russian President Vladimir Putin's readiness for talks with Trump.

Trump has an opportunity to emulate President Ronald Reagan who won the Cold War by breaking the Russian economy. The Russian economy is a house of straw, one hard push and it will fall down. The country is vulnerable to economic crises. New sanctions or a drop in oil and natural gas prices could trigger a recession.

The president-elect had said Russia’s leader wanted to meet him to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said it welcomed such dialogue, but a meeting could occur only after Mr. Trump took office.