Russian President Vladimir Putin said that European countries could participate in settling the conflict in Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Putin said this amid European Union concerns that the bloc could be isolated from peace talks in Ukraine between Russia and the United States.
"Europeans, but also other countries, have the right and the opportunity to participate. And we respect that," the Russian president said in a televised interview yesterday.
Putin said that it was the European countries that broke off relations with Russia.
"They themselves gave up all contact with us and had all sorts of crazy ideas about winning against Russia on the battlefield," he said.
"The participation (of the European countries) in the negotiation process is necessary. We have never been against it," he explained.
Putin said that the talks between Russia and the United States last week in Saudi Arabia, which were the first at a high level since the start of the war in Ukraine and in which European countries did not take part, were aimed at "strengthening trust" between Moscow and Washington.
"No issue can be resolved without this. Including such a complex and acute issue as the Ukrainian crisis," he pointed out.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed in Saudi Arabia "the problems related to the Ukrainian crisis, but not the Ukrainian crisis itself," Putin also said.
In the same interview, the Russian president called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky a "toxic person," thus repeating some criticisms formulated last week by US President Trump in his address, notes Agence France-Presse.
Zelensky said that he gives "ridiculous orders" to his military, which leads to "unjustified losses and even very high and catastrophic losses" for the Ukrainian army, Putin assured. He also said that Zelensky is a "factor in the disintegration of the army, society and statehood." in Ukraine.
Putin accused Zelensky of avoiding negotiations, emphasizing that the Ukrainian president had banned any negotiations with him by decree in October 2022. Zelensky's chances of winning future presidential elections in Ukraine are "absolutely zero", he assured.
These accusations echo words by Trump, who last week called Zelensky a "dictator" and even hinted that he was responsible for the conflict in Ukraine, notes Agence France-Presse. Trump's comments were criticized at the time by Western leaders, and Zelensky himself said that Trump was living in a space of Russian disinformation.
Yesterday, at a meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the US president refused to call Putin a dictator, after last week he used this qualification in the address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, recalls Agence France-Presse. Macron, for his part, clearly stated that Russia "is the aggressor" in the conflict. "President Putin has broken the peace", Macron said at a joint press conference with Trump.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian president expressed his readiness to resign if it would lead to peace for Ukraine or in exchange for the country's membership in NATO, Ukrinform reported. The head of state spoke at a forum in Kiev and when asked if he was ready to give up his post in exchange for peace for Ukraine, Zelensky said: "Yes, if it means peace for Ukraine, if I really have to leave my post, I am ready. Another option is to exchange this for NATO. If such conditions are set, immediately." He specified that he does not intend to remain in power for decades. "I am focused on the security of Ukraine today, not in 20 years. "I don't think I'll stay in power for decades," Zelensky added.
Last night, in a television program in which he spoke on various topics, Putin also described as a good idea Trump's proposal, according to which Russia, the United States and China should cut their military spending by half, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We can conclude an agreement with the United States. The United States will reduce by 50 percent and we will reduce spending by 50 percent. China will join us if it wants. We think this proposal is good, and we are open to discussions in this direction," Putin said.
Trump's proposal came in mid-February. He then said that the world's three largest military powers could halve their military spending, adding that he planned to discuss this with Moscow and Beijing when the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are settled, recalls Agence France-Presse.
"We could do it, we can agree with the United States, we are not against it. I think it's a good idea," Putin said yesterday evening.
Russia has significantly increased its defense spending to support the offensive it launched in Ukraine three years ago. This significant increase in spending has supported Russian economic growth, but has also fueled inflation in Russia, AFP notes.
For 2024, Russia's defense and security budget as a whole amounted to about 8.7 percent of Russian GDP, Vladimir Putin recalled. This is the first time in Russia since the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
At the same time, Trump recently hinted that NATO countries should spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense per year.