Putin says he was ready to resume talks "as early as 21 September", but on Russia's terms

Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to resume peace talks as soon as possible, but on terms acceptable to Russia.

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, citing Putin's remarks at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Quote: "We are ready to start these talks and conclude them as soon as possible, but, of course, on terms that are acceptable to the Russian Federation and our people."

Details: Putin spoke about the occupation of the entire Donbas, Ukraine's neutral status, security guarantees for Russia and "conditions for lasting peace". Putin also mentioned the Russian language and the church in his answers, as he has traditionally done.

"At such a high level, people in Ukraine are saying that they will hold on to the remaining 11% of the territory of the 'DPR' [Donetsk Oblast] for another year and a half. In Europe, they say that Ukraine will hold on to it for two years. We believe this will happen much sooner, given the pace of our troops' advance. The pace is increasing. The question is: 'Well, if the loss of territory is inevitable, does it make sense to cling to it at the cost of people's lives?'" Putin said.

He also mentioned talks with US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, noting that Russia had "agreed" to the US proposals despite the fact that "Trump's proposals concerning Ukraine include difficult decisions for Russia".

Putin also claimed that he had been ready to resume talks as early as September but, as usual, blamed Kyiv for derailing the possible dialogue.

"We received a request to resume the negotiating process. We said: 'All right. But only after the State Duma elections. The elections are on the 20th, and we are ready to start the negotiating process as early as 21 [September]'. Well, what did they do? It turns out they did not hold the elections themselves, and they tried to disrupt ours. From 19 to 20 September, they attempted to break through Moscow's air defence. More than 1,600 drones were launched towards Moscow… They struck polling stations in other regions of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

Background:

• On 12 September, Putin rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal to hold talks on ending the war on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the US. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that Putin was only prepared to meet Zelenskyy in Moscow.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called Zelenskyy's invitation to Moscow a "huge gesture of goodwill". He claimed that Russia remained open to negotiations with Ukraine but would not halt the war while the talks were taking place.

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