Russia ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but under realistic conditions, says Putin – Jornal OPaís

Russia is ready for negotiations with Ukraine, but the conditions must be based on realistic premises and not illusions, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with the general director of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, of which Sputnik is part. , Dmitry Kiselev

“Are we ready for negotiations? Yes, we are, but we are only ready for talks that are not based on some positive thinking induced by psychotropic drugs, but those that are based on the situation developing in the territory,” he said. Putin reaffirmed that Russia wants to resolve disputes through peaceful means.

“We are ready for this”, he highlighted. The president also said that he is interested in the security of the Russian Federation.

“We must clearly understand that this is not a pause for the enemy to rearm, but a serious conversation with security guarantees for Russia.”

Asked regarding the possibility of an “honest treaty” with the West, the president was clear in his response. “I don’t trust anyone, but we need guarantees. And those assurances must be in writing, good enough for us, and must be something we would believe.”

‘Western countries are ‘powerless’ in the face of the unity of the Russian people’, says Putin

The countries of the so-called West found themselves powerless in the face of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and the unity of the Russian people, said Russian President Vladimir Putin during the interview.

Some Western elites do not want a country as big as Russia on their side and seek to divide it, Putin said.

At the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries were happy and believed they would be able to wipe out Russia through sanctions, weapons and Ukrainian nationalists, Putin said.

Putin claimed that the West predicted Russia’s strategic defeat on the battlefield, but over time the possibility became increasingly slim.

“They were confronted […] in view of the unity of the Russian people, the foundations and stability of the Russian financial and economic system and the capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”