Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Ukraine not to delay the resumption of talks on resolving the conflict, stating that Moscow is ready to discuss the issue on the basis of the principles agreed in Istanbul in 2022.
During talks with the heads of international news agencies, Putin stressed that the conditions proposed by Russia in Istanbul three years ago were more favourable for Ukraine than the current situation. He noted the changes in circumstances and warned that further delaying the negotiations could exacerbate Ukraine’s situation.
“If they don’t come to an agreement, the situation may change for the worse for them. There’s no need to drag it out. We need to sit down and negotiate,” Putin said.
Earlier, the president said that the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams were preparing for a new round of talks, which could take place after June 22. He confirmed his readiness to meet, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for talks on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
In this regard, the Russian leader listed a number of nuances necessary for holding such a summit and signing the final documents. Putin also recalled that Crimea, Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are an integral part of Russia.
Russia is also ready to hold “substantive negotiations” on the principles of conflict resolution — Kyiv must also be ready for this, and its “Western sponsors and so-called allies” must push it not to fight to the last Ukrainian, but to reach agreements and point to today’s realities, the president added.
According to him, a solution must be found that would not only end the conflict but also create conditions for preventing its recurrence in the long term: “If we cannot reach an agreement through peaceful means, we will achieve our goals by military means.”
Mediators between Ukraine and Russia Speaking about mediators in the settlement of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the Russian president stressed that they must be neutral. Putin doubts that Germany, for example, can be a mediator. As he explained, Germany supports Kyiv and in some cases is even complicit in its military actions: “Nevertheless, if it is a question of (Berlin’s) desire to talk about this issue, to present some ideas on this matter, we are always ready and open to this.”
However, US President Donald Trump, like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is doing a lot to achieve a settlement, Vladimir Putin believes. In his opinion, Trump is sincerely striving for this.
The Russian president believes that Donald Trump is right when he says that “if I were president (instead of Joe Biden), there would be no war.”
The Russian president is taking part in the SPIEF and hold international meetings on the sidelines of the forum. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held on June 18-21. The main theme of this year’s SPIEF is “Shared Values: The Foundation of Growth in a Multipolar World.”
