Putin makes cynical statement on peace talks with Ukraine
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
Russia was ready to resume peace talks with Ukraine after the elections, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said, according to TASS.
"Russia was ready to resume negotiations with Kyiv after the elections, but Ukraine tried to strike Moscow and attacked polling stations," he said.
Putin also said that all proposals for a peaceful settlement are already "on the table."
"But Russia still has to consider what is in its interests," he said.
Putin also called statements about the threat Russia poses to European countries and the need to prepare for a war with Russia "a deliberate escalation of the situation" and a "provocation."
"Russia is not preparing for war with Europe. There are no motives or grounds for this," the Russian president stressed.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the "Anchorage agreements" no longer work in the negotiations. He noted that it is difficult for Russia to demand recognition of Ukraine's occupied territories as Russian when it is losing on the battlefield.
It was also reported that Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia expects to resume trilateral talks on Ukraine. At the same time, he said there has been no progress on this so far.
