Kyiv, its western backers not ready for talks: Vladimir Putin
Moscow, December 25
Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired on Sunday.
There is, thus far, little end in sight to the war.
No other choice
I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens. Vladimir Putin, Russian President
The Kremlin says it will fight until all its aims are achieved while Kyiv says it will not rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from all of its territory, including Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014.
“We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them — we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are,” Putin said in the interview.
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Putin needed to return to reality and acknowledge that it was Russia which did not want any negotiations.
“Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens,” Mykhailo Podolyak said. “Russia doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility.”
Putin said Russia was acting in the “right direction” in Ukraine because the West was trying to cleave Russia apart. Putin said the West had begun the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian president in the Maidan Revolution protests. — Reuters
