In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a correspondent for the Russian state broadcaster VGTRK, Vladimir Putin spoke for the first time about his talks with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and outlined Russia’s position.
Putin said Russia had agreed with U.S. representatives that it was ready to resume three-way talks. “The purpose of these talks will be to discuss how to ensure the security of Ukraine and Russia after peace agreements are reached — in their final form, not as the result of a pause in the fighting,” he said.
Zarubin also asked Putin about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement in a Fox News interview that he was prepared to freeze the conflict along the line of contact, retaining 75% of Ukraine’s territory (and losing 25%, as the question put it). Putin replied that it was “not their territory — it is the territory of historical Russia.”
Putin also claimed that Ukraine is the side that wants war, not Russia:
We don’t want to fight Ukraine. If Ukraine’s current leadership wants to fight, let it fight. But why does it think everyone should pay for it and supply it with weapons? […] We’re still ready to negotiate and look for ways out of this difficult situation. The Ukrainian people are very close to us. The latest genetic studies show that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.
It is unclear which “latest genetic studies” he was referring to.
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