Europe’s participation in the negotiation process on Ukraine is essential, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. However, European representatives cannot demand anything from Russia, he added in an interview published on Monday.
Putin commented on last week's talks in Saudi Arabia, which were focused on restoring trust between Moscow and Washington, and excluded Ukrainian and EU leaders.
Putin explained that “to resolve complex and even acute issues”, including the Ukrainian crisis, Russia and the US had to “take the first step”, which is “building trust”.
“That is precisely what we were doing in Riyadh. That will also be the focus of our future contacts. Without this, it's impossible to resolve any issue, especially one as complex and urgent as the Ukrainian crisis. But what do the Europeans have to do with this? This is a matter of bilateral Russia-US relations,” the president said.
Putin also claimed that the Ukrainian crisis itself “was not substantively discussed”, and Moscow and Washington agreed “that we would approach this matter in due time”. In this regard, Russia doesn't oppose the participation of European representatives, Putin stressed.
”But I want to emphasize that we respect the position of our friends, particularly those within BRICS, who have established a group of peace advocates”, the President said, adding that he has just spoken with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, discussing the matter. “He informed me that this [BRICS] group will convene soon in New York to discuss the issue”, Putin said.
He emphasized that Moscow is grateful to all its partners “who strive to achieve peace”. “Not only Europeans but other countries as well have the right to participate, and we respect that,” Putin concluded.
The US State Department praised the high-level discussions, calling it a significant step toward resolving the Ukraine conflict. This was the first such meeting since the conflict began in 2022.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was part of the delegation, noted that the meeting in Riyadh was initiated by the Russian and US presidents, who also agreed to begin preparations for a summit.
Putin has previously said he would be glad to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump, though he called it too early to name a specific date for a summit. He added that a simple “coffee hour” would not be enough to remedy relations between the two nations, and both sides need to thoroughly prepare. Moscow and Washington nevertheless “do not need any mediators” to sort out their differences, he added.
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