Putin says all Ukraine peace proposals on the table
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Russian President Vladimir Putin says all proposals for a settlement in the four-and-a-half-year-old war with Ukraine remain on the table but Russia still needs to assess what is in its best interest, Russian news agencies report.
Putin, addressing Russian journalists, also said that the Kremlin had been ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine after last week’s Russian parliamentary elections but Ukraine had launched attacks on Moscow and hit polling stations.
The Russian president said it was Ukraine that had launched provocative attacks and would now have to pay the price of a sustained response.
“They are the ones who started it. Everywhere, on every front. Are these playthings, child’s play?” Putin told reporters.
“They should therefore be made to feel Russia’s retaliatory strikes and understand that no provocative actions, no stirring up the situation to secure a result will work. They’re only making things worse for themselves.”
He said these actions stood behind Ukraine’s calls for a ceasefire and a resumption of talks.
“They are all on the table. It’s all possible,” he said.
“But after everything they have done, we will still have to think carefully about what we need to do in response.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that he asked US President Donald Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his influence to get Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy added that the United States is pushing for a three-way meeting involving delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia, with officials holding technical talks in that format without the countries’ leaders.
with AP
Reuters