Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that, in the midst of rising tensions between the United States and Ukraine, he was informed of the results of Russian-US discussions in Saudi Arabia and pleased with the outcomes.
“Yes, I have been informed. I rate them highly, there are results”, he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency on Wednesday. “In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests”.
The first high-level discussions between the US and Russia since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago took place on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.
Washington made a significant policy change following the meeting, which put a string of sanctions in place and worked to isolate Moscow after the war.
The governments of Ukraine and Europe were not invited to the talks in Riyadh, raising the possibility that Russia and the US might strike a deal that disregards their most important interests.
Russian President “would like to meet Trump.”
Putin claimed that in order to end the conflict, his country must rely on trust with the United States to succeed.
“No one is excluding Ukraine”, Putin said in a televised meeting with journalists in Saint Petersburg, adding that there was no need for a “hysterical” reaction to the US-Russia talks.
“It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States”, he said.
He added that although Donald Trump is in the US, a meeting would need to be held.
Putin added that the Europeans were the ones who had repeatedly objected to Russian communication.
“We are not imposing anything on anyone. We are ready, I have already said this a hundred times – if they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations”, he said.
Putin also made a diplomatic comment about how Europe may have coordinated a Monday drone attack by Ukraine against the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in southern Russia.
The strike hit a Russian oil pipeline pumping station, reducing flows from Kazakhstan to Western countries, including Chevron and ExxonMobil.
The Russian president claimed that Western intelligence was likely behind the attack and that he did not believe Ukraine had planned it on its own.
Zelenskyy: A “dictator without elections”
Relations between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the two leaders’ verbal exchanges, quickly deteriorated as Moscow and Washington resumed diplomatic relations.
In comments made on the Truth Social social media app, Trump referred to Zelenskyy as “a dictator without elections.” He advised Zalensky to act quickly otherwise he won’t have any country left.
The US president also alleged that the Ukrainian leader, who had claimed the funds were “missing,” was trying to “keep the “gravy train” going because Ukraine mismanaged US billions for the war.
According to Zelenskyy, who had spoken during the talks in Riyadh that Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space”
Trump earlier suggested Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s invasion. You ought to have never begun it. You might have struck a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine”, the US president said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Kursk’s ground offensive claims were rejected.
Putin also stated in his remarks that Russian troops were moving along the line of contact, near the Sumy region of Ukraine, as they entered the Kursk region overnight.
The claim was swiftly rejected by Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official responsible for countering disinformation.
“Putin’s information about a large-scale Russian offensive is a lie”, he said, adding that a Russian reconnaissance unit had tried to cross but had been destroyed.
Source: Aljazeera
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