Russian President also leaves a warning to anyone who uses frozen Russian assets
Vladimir Putin gave a press conference this Thursday in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, where he is making a state visit. The Russian president took advantage of the moment to assure that he is willing to cease hostilities with Ukraine if Kiev withdraws its forces from the territories that Russia claims to have annexed.
“If Ukrainian troops leave the occupied territories, we will cease hostilities. If they do not leave, we will expel them by military force.”
Putin considers the Ukrainian leadership “illegitimate” and explains that, therefore, it is useless to sign any peace plan or document with the current Ukrainian presidency that seeks an eventual ceasefire. The Kremlin leader argues that Kiev’s political leadership lost legitimacy after refusing to hold elections when Volodymyr Zelensky’s current term ended.
As for Europe, Putin guarantees that he is preparing a set of retaliatory measures in response to potential uses of Russian assets. The Russian president further warns that any move to spend Russian assets would be “a theft of property” and would have a negative impact on the global financial system.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Russian president confesses that he was surprised by the sanctions imposed by the United States against Russian oil companies. This is because, last month, the United States applied its toughest sanctions yet to the Russian energy sector, hitting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.
Putin added that the sanctions “are destroying” Russia’s relations with the United States.
The Russian leader also rejected the suggestion that has been widely reproduced that US envoy Steve Witkoff had shown partiality in favor of Moscow in the peace negotiations over Ukraine, classifying such an idea as “nonsense”.
Witkoff has been criticized in Europe and the United States this week after the release of a telephone recording in which he advised a Kremlin adviser on how Putin should conduct peace negotiations with President Donald Trump. “This is nonsense,” Putin said, describing Witkoff as a US citizen who defends US interests.
Vladimir Putin also announced that Russia is ready to discuss strategic stability with the United States, including issues related to nuclear tests. And he left one last guarantee: Russia “does not plan to attack Europe”. “That’s ridiculous.”
