Kazan, Russia:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed President Donald Trump’s comments about wanting to end the conflict in Ukraine as “sincere,” raising concerns about how the U.S. government will approach relations with the United States after the presidential election. He said that it depends on.
But Kremlin leaders have struck a hard line, saying it is a “fantasy” to think Russia could be defeated on the battlefield and that any peace deal would have to recognize Russian control over parts of Ukrainian territory. warned Western countries.
Putin was speaking at the end of the BRICS summit in the city of Kazan, where he faced calls from some of Russia’s most important allies for an end to fighting in Ukraine.
“How Russian-American relations will develop after the elections will depend on the United States. If they are open, we are open. And if they don’t want to, then we are open,” Putin told reporters in Kazan. That’s fine,” he said.
Amid Moscow’s military offensive against Ukraine, relations between the two superpowers have fallen to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Next month’s US elections will be crucial for the future of relations and the outcome of the Ukraine conflict.
President Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Ukraine and has claimed he could end the fighting within hours if elected.
Putin said President Trump “spoke of his desire to make every effort to end the conflict in Ukraine. I think he is sincere. Of course, whoever these statements come from, we We welcome it.”
ground reality
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also among the roughly 20 people gathered for the BRICS summit, Russia’s biggest diplomatic event since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022. included among the leaders.
Kremlin leaders said Moscow was open to considering peace efforts and would welcome BRICS leaders offering to mediate.
But he said any agreement would have to take into account the “reality on the ground” – references to Ukrainian territory controlled by Russian forces.
“We are ready to consider all proposals for peace negotiations that are based on the realities on the ground. We will not accept anything else,” he said.
President Putin had previously called for the withdrawal of troops and the effective surrender of Kiev as a precondition for negotiating a cease-fire.
And on Thursday, he accused Western countries of thinking Russia could be defeated on the battlefield.
Russia’s adversaries “make no secret of their aim to inflict a strategic defeat on our country,” he said.
“I want to say directly that these are fantastic calculations that only those who do not know Russian history can think of.”
Russia claimed this week that North Korea had sent troops to Russia, with the United States, South Korea, NATO and Kiev all facing new accusations of escalating the conflict.
Kiev said on Thursday it had received information that soldiers had already been sent to Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine is ramping up its cross-border offensive.
President Putin on Thursday refused to confirm or deny the reports, instead accusing Ukraine and the West of worsening the conflict.
middle east
President Putin also spoke with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the first meeting between the two since April 2022.
The Kremlin did not broadcast opening remarks, but both sides said the talks would also include Ukraine.
The UN Secretary-General previously appealed for a “just peace” in Ukraine in a speech he gave in front of President Putin.
“Ukraine needs peace. A just peace in line with the United Nations Charter, international law and the (United Nations) General Assembly resolutions,” Guterres said at the summit.
Ukraine has strongly criticized Guterres’ decision to meet with “criminal Putin.”
Guterres also called for an “immediate ceasefire” and hostage release in the Gaza Strip and an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in Lebanon.
Other leaders at the summit also called for an end to Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying Israel was starving Gaza’s civilians and trying to drive them from the territory.
President Xi warned of “serious challenges” in the world and said he hoped the BRICS countries would become “a stabilizing force for peace.”
“We must continue to promote the ceasefire in Gaza, restart the two-state solution, and prevent the war from escalating in Lebanon. There must be no more suffering and destruction in Palestine and Lebanon,” Xi said. ” he said.
Speaking to Guterres, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized the role of the UN Security Council, saying the international body “lacks the efficiency needed to put out the flames of this crisis.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
