Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that Moscow had been ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine after the “elections,” but that, according to his version of events, Ukrainian strikes on Moscow and polling stations prevented this from happening.
He made the statement during the United Cultures Forum in St. Petersburg. However, the Kremlin had not previously publicly announced any plans to return to negotiations with Kyiv specifically after the “elections.”
Putin also threatened Ukraine, saying that “no provocations will improve Kyiv’s position.” He separately claimed that Ukraine allegedly has no effective means of countering Russia’s Geran attack drones.
According to Putin, Russia’s proposals for a possible peace settlement remain “on the table.” At the same time, he suggested they could be revised, saying that Moscow “still needs to think about what is in its interests.”
Among the Kremlin’s publicly stated demands are claims to Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as occupied Crimea.
Putin also commented on European countries’ concerns about Russian hybrid attacks. He described them as a “deliberate escalation of the situation” and claimed that Russia was not planning a war with Europe because, according to him, there were no “motives or grounds” for doing so.
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