Putin warns Russia is 'ready' if Europe wants war as Kremlin holds 'constructive' talks with US

LAST UPDATE | 17 hrs ago

VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS said Russia is “ready” for war if Europe seeks one, accusing the continent’s leaders of trying to sabotage a deal on the Ukraine conflict before he met with US envoys.

Speaking in Dublin, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin’s comments are “nothing new”.

Putin’s remarks came as US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Moscow for high-stakes talks on ending the nearly four-year war, which were preceded by days of intense diplomacy.

Those talks have since ended and Moscow said “no compromise” had been reached.

“We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” the Russian president told reporters in Moscow prior to the meeting.

“They have no peaceful agenda, they are on the side of war,” Putin added, repeating his claim that European leaders were hindering US attempts to broker peace in Ukraine.

He also said that European changes to Trump’s latest plan to end the war “aimed solely at one thing – to completely block the entire peace process and put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia”.

Washington has presented a 28-point draft to end the conflict, later amended after criticism from Ukraine and Europe, which viewed it as heeding to many of Russia’s maximalist demands.

The plan to end the war is championed by Trump, but European countries fear it risks forcing Ukraine to cave in to Russian demands, notably on territory.

Fearing further Russian aggression, Europe has repeatedly said an unfair peace should not be imposed on Ukraine.

Zelenskyy was asked about Putin’s remarks during the inaugural meeting of the Ireland and Ukraine Economic Forum in Dublin this evening.

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Zelenskyy said it was “very difficult to comment because Putin really doesn’t want to finish this war because he didn’t get all his goals”.

“He wanted to destroy us,” added Zelenskyy, “he has really been very surprised.”

Zelenskyy added that Putin’s “real goal is to destroy and break Ukraine and Europe” and that he is “now thinking of new reasons not to end this war”.

“For me it is nothing new, the words of Putin, it’s nothing new,” said Zelenskyy.

“We want peace… we need to bring peace closer,” added the Ukrainian president.

Speaking after the meeting in Moscow, the Kremlin said “no compromise” had been reached yet on the key question territory in Ukraine, after hours-long talks.

“So far we haven’t found a compromise, but some American solutions can be discussed,” top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in answer to a journalist’s question about occupied Ukrainian territories.

“Some proposed formulations do not fit us, and work will continue,” he added.

The top Putin diplomatic aide said the initial US plan was broken down into four parts, which were discussed during the five-hour meeting in the Kremlin.

“There were some points we could agree on,” Ushakov said, but “the president did not hide our critical, even negative, stance on a number of proposals”.

Still, Ushakov said, “the conversation was very useful and constructive,” even though “a lot of work lies ahead both in Washington in Moscow”.

When asked whether the two sides’ positions became farther apart after the meeting, Ushakov said: “Not farther apart, that’s for sure.”

Both sides also agreed not to reveal the essence of the negotiations, according to the Russian official.

-With additional reporting from Christina Finn and Diarmuid Pepper