Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that U.S President Donald Trump’s administration is listening to the Kremlin’s justifications for its invasion of neighboring Ukraine and claimed that Moscow and Washington have come to a “mutual understanding” about the conflict.
Putin said during a visit to China that “the (Trump) administration is listening to us,” as he complained that former President Joe Biden paid Moscow’s arguments no heed.
“Now we see this mutual understanding, it’s noticeable,” Putin said at a bilateral meeting with pro-Russian Slovak President Robert Fico after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. “We are very happy about this and hope this constructive dialogue will continue.”
But Russia faces possible punitive actions by Trump, who has expressed frustration at Putin’s lack of engagement in U.S.-led peace efforts and threatened unspecified “severe consequences.” The American president has made ending the three-year war one of his diplomatic priorities and hosted Putin at a summit in Alaska last month.
Putin attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who are also facing pressure from Trump. The SCO started out as a security forum viewed as a foil to U.S. influence in Central Asia but it has grown in influence over the years.
After the summit, the Russian leader held talks with Xi in Beijing, and on Wednesday he was to attend a massive military parade there commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
In Beijing, Putin struck an apparently amenable tone about possible progress in some aspects of the discussions to stop the fighting, although his comments reflected no substantial change in Russia’s position. Western leaders have accused Putin of marking time in peace efforts while Russia’s bigger army seeks to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses.
On the key issue of possible postwar security guarantees for Ukraine to deter another Russian invasion, Putin said “it seems to me that there is an opportunity to find consensus.” He didn’t elaborate.
While Putin reiterated that Moscow will not accept NATO membership for Ukraine, he also noted that he had never objected to Ukraine joining the European Union.
He also said Russia “can work with our American partners” at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest and one of the 10 biggest atomic power plants in the world. Its fate has been a central concern of the war due to fears of a nuclear accident.
Putin said Russia could also work with Ukraine on the Zaporizhzhia question — “if favorable conditions arise.”
Fico said he planned to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday in the Ukrainian city of Uzhorod, which lies on the border with Slovakia, to talk about Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Slovakia and Hungary, which refuse to provide arms to Ukraine, condemned recent strikes by Ukrainian troops against Russian oil infrastructure, namely the Druzhba oil pipeline. The two countries, as well as the Czech Republic, are exempt from a European Union ban on importing Russian oil, which they rely on.
Fico told Putin he wants to normalize relations and develop business ties with Russia while continuing to import Russian oil and natural gas.
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