MOSCOW – Russia is ready to negotiate with all sides involved within the war in Ukraine, but Kyiv and its Western henchmen have refused to enter into talks, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired Sunday.
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine sparked Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II and the best confrontation between Moscow and the West for the reason that Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Up to now, the tip of the war is not in sight.
The Kremlin says it should fight until all its goals are met, while Kyiv says it should not rest until all Russian soldiers are expelled from all its territory, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
“We’re ready to negotiate acceptable solutions with all involved parties, nevertheless it relies on them – it is not us who refuses to negotiate, but them,” Putin said in an interview with the state television Rossiya 1.
CIA Director William Burns he said in an interview published this month that while most conflicts end in negotiations, according to the CIA’s assessment, Russia is not yet serious about real negotiations to end the war.
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Putin must come back to reality and admit that it is Russia that doesn’t want any negotiations.
“Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing residents,” Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted. “Russia doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility.”
‘There is no other alternative’
Putin said that Russia is moving in Ukraine “in the proper direction” since the West, led by the USA, is trying to divide Russia. Washington denies planning Russia’s downfall.
“I feel that we’re moving in the proper direction, we’re defending our national interests, the interests of our residents, our nation. And we now have no alternative but to protect our residents,” Putin said.
Asked if the geopolitical conflict with the West is approaching dangerous levels, Putin said: “I do not think it’s that dangerous.”
Putin said the West began the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 with the overthrow of the pro-Russian president in the course of the Maidan revolution protests.
Shortly after this revolution, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and Russian-backed separatist forces began fighting Ukrainian military forces in eastern Ukraine.
“Actually, the basic thing here is the policy of our geopolitical opponents, which is geared toward tearing apart Russia, historical Russia,” Putin said.
Putin calls what he calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine a watershed moment when Moscow finally stood up to a Western bloc he says has been aiming to destroy Russia for the reason that fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ukraine and the West argue that Putin has no excuse for what they call an imperial-style war of occupation that has sown suffering and death in Ukraine.
Putin described Russia as a “unique country” and said that the overwhelming majority of its individuals are united in wanting to defend it.
“As for the essential part – 99.9% of our residents, our people who find themselves ready to give every little thing for the interests of the Motherland – there is nothing unusual for me here,” Putin said.
“This once more convinces me that Russia is a novel country and that we now have a novel nation. This has been confirmed throughout the history of Russia’s existence.”