Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate with “everyone”, including Europeans, the Kremlin said on Friday (8), after the Financial Times reported that European Union leaders were preparing for possible talks.
The FT reported on Thursday (7) that the European Union’s change in position was motivated by European frustration with negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, led by United States President Donald Trump.
He said he believes there is “potential” for the EU to negotiate with Putin and that the bloc has the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to do so, according to the FT.
“Putin is ready to negotiate with everyone. He has said this repeatedly,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists when asked by Reuters about the FT report.
“We will be ready to move forward with our dialogue, as long as the Europeans are also ready. However, as Putin has repeatedly stated, we will not initiate such contacts following the position taken by the Europeans,” he added.
Russia claims that it is up to European governments to take the first step, as they were the ones who broke relations with Moscow in 2022, after the start of the war with Ukraine.
“The Russian side did not initiate a complete break in our relations with the EU,” Peskov said. “This initiative came from Brussels and each of the European capitals.”
European leaders have stated that Russia needs to be defeated in Ukraine and have portrayed Putin as a war criminal and autocrat who they say could one day (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) if allowed to win the war.
Russia rejects such allegations as absurd.
Putin, who ordered the deployment of troops in February 2022, accuses European powers of being warmongers for supporting Kiev with tens of billions of dollars in aid, weapons and intelligence information.
