Moscow:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that conversations with Ukraine were possible, but not with his president Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he considered “illegitimate.”
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has pressed on both sides to end the conflict of almost three years, saying last week that Zelensky wanted to negotiate an “agreement” to stop fighting.
“Yes (Zelensky) wants to participate in the negotiations, I will assign people to participate in the negotiations,” said Putin, calling the “illegitimate” Ukrainian leader because his presidential term expired during the martial law.
“If there is a desire to negotiate and find a commitment, let anyone lead the negotiations there … naturally, we will strive for what suits us, which corresponds to our interests,” he added.
Putin also said that the fight would end in two months or less if the West reduced his support for kyiv.
“They will not exist for a month if the money and, in a wide sense, the bullets are over. Everything would end in a month and a half or two,” Putin said.
The conflict has not shown signs of de -escalation despite Trump’s promise to promulgate a rapid fire once in office.
Russian officials said Monday that no one in Trump’s team had contacted to establish a meeting with Putin, but that both parties seemed to be ready for one.
kyiv warned that he is excluded from any peace conversation, accusing Putin of wanting to “manipulate” Trump.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a union feed).
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