Vladimir Putin says he will only meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 'final phase' of peace talks

Australia Broadcast Center

5 hours ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is willing to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but only during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending their nations' conflict.
He also suggested Mr Zelenskyy had no right to sign a peace agreement given his five-year mandate had expired under martial law, something Kyiv has dismissed as baseless propaganda.
"We need to find a solution that would not only put an end to the current conflict, but also create conditions that would prevent similar situations from recurring in the long term," Mr Putin said in Saint Petersburg on Thursday, local time.
"I am ready to meet with everyone, including Zelenskyy.
"That is not the issue. If the Ukrainian state trusts someone in particular to conduct negotiations, for God's sake, it can be Zelenskyy.
"We don't care who negotiates, even if it is the current head of the regime."
The Russian leader added that this would only happen at a "final phase, so as not to sit there and divide things up endlessly, but to put an end to it".
Talks on ending the three-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks, with Russia pushing uncompromising demands for ending the offensive while declining to attend a personal meeting with Mr Zelenskyy.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging peace efforts to prolong the conflict.
In the same press conference, Mr Putin said NATO's recent push to ramp up defence spending was not a "threat" to Russia.
The NATO alliance is set to sign off on a plan to boost its military capacity across Europe at a crucial summit in The Hague next week.
The Russian leader added that his troops would not stop pushing forward in Ukraine.
He cast his offensive in Ukraine as part of a wider conflict between Russia and US-led NATO, which has been Ukraine's staunchest backer since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.
"We do not consider any rearmament by NATO to be a threat to the Russian Federation because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our own security," Mr Putin said.
Russia is "constantly modernising our armed forces and defensive capabilities", he said, adding that it made "no sense" for NATO to spend more money on arms.
Though he conceded increased NATO spending would create some "specific" challenges for Russia, he brushed them off.
"We will counter all threats that arise. There is no doubt about that," he said.
Kyiv is seeking security guarantees from NATO as part of any deal to end the fighting, more than three years after Russia ordered its full-scale military offensive.
AFP