"If those who call themselves the Iraqi resistance desired to contact me, I would welcome them," he said.
"I would not refuse to meet any Iraqi who wants to meet me.
"But of course that does not mean I will accept what he says."
Mr Talabani is in Egypt for a reconciliation meeting of Iraqi politicians that has been organised by the Cairo-based Arab League.
The talks are to prepare for a bigger conference in Baghdad after elections in December.
Previously, Iraqi Government leaders have said they will talk to those who are not responsible for killing Iraqis and are committed to laying down their arms.
A precondition for talks has also been that their negotiating partners show they have influence among insurgents by persuading them to stop attacks.
Mr Talabani says so far there has not been any contacts with "those whom some describe as the resistance".
In the opening session of the Cairo conference, Mr Talabani said religious extremists who advocate violence and Baathist associates of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had no role in the political process in his country.
"Our national unity ... does not include under any circumstance the murderers and criminals among the followers of the old regime, who left us mass graves, or among the takfiris (Muslims who call other Muslims infidels)," he said.
It is not immediately clear if Mr Talabani means to exclude these categories from his offer to open contacts.
But he draws distinctions between three categories of people fighting the Iraqi Government and US forces - "terrorists", those who want to restore Saddam, and those who want to drive foreign forces out of the country.
"To the latter, we say that the answer is not armed operations but political dialogue and democratic methods," he said.
"Iraq is now an open country where any one can express his opinion ... without relying on weapons."
Transport Minister Salam al-Malaki, who is close to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, says a timetable for US withdrawal remains one of his group's basic demands- a sign that any talks with violent factions opposed to the government are likely to end in stalemate.