MOSCOW, Dec 25 (Reuters) – Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the conflict in Ukraine but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks, the President Vladimir Putin in an interview released on Tuesday.
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine has sparked the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II and the biggest conflict between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
At this point, the war is a little over.
The Kremlin says it will fight to achieve its goals and Kyiv says it will not rest until all Russian troops are expelled from its entire territory, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
“We are ready to communicate with everyone about acceptable solutions, but they have their own – we are not the ones who do not want to negotiate, they are,” Putin said. told Rossiya 1 state television in an interview.
CIA Director William Burns said in an interview published this month that, although most conflicts end in negotiations, the CIA’s assessment is that Russia is not really thinking about the ultimate negotiation to end the war.
An adviser to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Putin should return to the truth and admit that Russia does not want negotiations.
“Russia attacked Ukraine alone and killed people,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Russia does not want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility.”
‘NO MORE SAYING’
Putin said that Russia is doing “the right thing” in Ukraine because the West, led by the United States, is trying to isolate Russia. Washington denies that it intends to defeat Russia.
“I believe that we are doing the right way, we are protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And there is nothing else than protecting our citizens ,” Putin said.
Asked if the geopolitical conflict with the West is approaching a dangerous level, Putin said: “I don’t think it’s very dangerous.”
Putin said the West started the war in Ukraine in 2014 by toppling a pro-Russian president in the Maidan Revolution protests.
Shortly after that revolution, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and Russian-backed separatist forces began fighting Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine.
“Of course, the most important thing here is the international policy of our geopolitical adversaries who seek to isolate Russia, the former Russia,” Putin said.
Putin will launch what he calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine as a watershed moment as Moscow finally stands up to a Western bloc it says seeks to destroy Russia from the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine and the West say Putin is not responsible for what they have committed to fighting an imperialist regime that has sown pain and death across Ukraine.
Putin called Russia a “unique country” and said most of its people were united in wanting to protect it.
“The main part – 99.9% of our citizens, our people are ready to give everything for the needs of the Nation – nothing is different for me here,” said Putin.
“This just confirmed to me that Russia is a unique country and we have a special people. This has been confirmed throughout the history of Russian existence.”
Additional comments by Pavel Polityyuk in Kyiv Editing by Gareth Jones
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