Putin’s comments come as fighting continues and Ukraine says Russia avoiding peace talks
For what it’s worth, Russia’s Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was ready to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy but only during a “final phase” of negotiations “so as not to sit there and divide things up endlessly, but to put an end to it”.
But his broader comments were not really conciliatory, and will do little to raise hopes of a negotiated settlement.
In the course of his briefing with foreign media, Putin made his customary false accusation that Zelenskyy is not Ukraine’s legitimate president.
Asked by AP about Russia condemning Israel’s strikes on Iran even as Ukrainian civilians are killed in attacks by Moscow, Putin responded that Russia was targeting the country’s arms factories – despite a recent attack on a nine-story residential building, which saw several dead.
