End war via talks or I will end it by force: Putin tells Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russian President Putin told Kyiv on Wednesday that there was a chance to end the war in Ukraine via negotiations “if common sense prevails”, an option he’d prefer, but that he was ready to end it by force if that was the only way.

Speaking in China at the end of a visit there, Putin said that he perceived “a certain light at the end of the tunnel” given what he said were sincere efforts by the US to find a settlement to Europe’s biggest land war since WWII.

“It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict. That is my assumption,” he told reporters in Beijing. “Especially since we can see the mood of the current US administration under President Trump, and we see not just their statements, but their sincere desire to find this solution. And I think there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to resolve all the tasks before us by force of arms.”

Putin did not however indicate any willingness to soften his long-standing demands that Ukraine abandon any ideas of joining Nato, reverse what Moscow has described as discrimination against Russian speakers and ethnic Russians, or step back from the idea that Moscow must have full control of at least the Donbas area in eastern Ukraine. He said he was ready to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelensky if the Ukrainian president came to Moscow, but that it remained to be seen whether such a meeting was worthwhile.

He repeated his view that Zelensky, whom has not faced re-election due to martial law despite his official term in office expiring, was illegitimate. Kyiv flatly rejects that, saying it is impossible to hold meaningful elections at a time of war. Zelensky has been pressing to meet Putin to discuss the terms of a possible deal.

Putin told reporters he had always been open to meeting Zelensky, but reiterated the Kremlin’s oft-repeated stance that such a meeting had to be well prepared in advance and lead to tangible results.

(Taken from Reuters)