Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (local time) confirmed that Moscow is ready to resume trilateral talks on Ukraine, TASS news agency reported, citing an interview with a Vesti journalist.
In the same interview, Putin described Ukraine as a “brotherly nation” and accused Europe of suffering from “political schizophrenia”, further claiming that they keep on fearmongering about a potential war with Russia.
"Europe’s constant fearmongering about prepping for 'war' with Russia 'is some kind of political schizophrenia...Despite Europe’s statements about 'Russian threat', it’s ‘clear they cannot defeat Russia strategically...People who wanted to defeat Russia, in previous centuries, just like now, will realize it’s better to be friends with Russia...It is obvious that nations of Europe do not want to go to war with Russia, and we do not want to go to war with them'," Putin said.
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"As far as our negotiations with US administration officials are concerned - yes, we agreed that we are ready to resume our trilateral consultations," he added.
This comes after Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov had already confirmed that talks will resume after November 10. The trilateral meeting includes Ukraine, Russia and the US.
Putin continued, "Today, we’re going to try our best to negotiate and look for solution to the Ukraine conflict. It’s a brotherly nation; latest genetic studies show [Russians and Ukrainians] are ONE people, in fact," he said.
He also took shots at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying his regime treat Ukrainians as "cannon fodder".
"Kiev regime treats Ukrainians like cannon fodder. These people are their citizens who are on frontlines. We see them get picked up off streets…there’s no motivation," he said.
United States special envoy Steve Witkoff engaged in high-stakes talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in St. Petersburg.
The aim of the meeting was to advance proposals to end the war in Ukraine and establish a pathway towards broader negotiations.
As reported by CNN, the diplomatic outreach came on the heels of Witkoff's Tuesday summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway, following which video footage captured the US envoy confirming that reviewing the outcomes of that "productive" Oslo summit remained central to the agenda.