Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to Donald Trump’s calls to hold negotiations with Kyiv to end the ongoing full-fledged war in Ukraine.
Just a day after US president’s statement that he wanted to meet his Russian counterpart for Ukraine talks, Putin said on Friday he was ready for such negotiations. "We have been always saying this, and I want to reiterate it, that we are ready for such negotiations on the Ukrainian issue," Putin said in an interview with VGTRK journalist. “It’s certainly better that we meet and, based on current realities, discuss calmly all areas of interest to both the U.S. and Russia,” he went on saying.
However, Putin said negotiating with Kyiv was challenging. "We are faced with some particular issues here that require special attention… As you may all know well, for instance, the current head of the regime in Kiev, when he was still a fairly legitimate head of state, inked a decree banning all negotiations with Russia,” Putin stressed.
The Russian leader described the newly-elected US president as “smart and pragmatic” despite Trump’s recent threats to slash Moscow with fresh sanctions unless Russia ends its three-year-old war in Ukraine.
Putin went so far as to say that the war might not have started had Trump been the president four years ago. “And I can’t help but agree that if his victory hadn’t been stolen in 2020, the crisis in Ukraine might not have emerged in 2022,” Putin added.
Putin has earlier stipulated the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from eastern industrial Donbass region and Novorossiya as well as abandoning its plans to join NATO as the main conditions for ending the war. The Russian leader has also urged removal of sanctions against his country and provision of Ukraine’s non-bloc and non-nuclear status.
