President Russia Vladimir Putin says Russia doesn’t want war with Ukraine. Instead of war, he wanted to enter into negotiations.
“Do we want this (war) or not? Of course not. That’s why we put forward a proposal for the negotiation process,” Putin told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow.
In addition, Putin also said he was ready to cooperate with the Western bloc to address security issues and reduce tensions in Ukraine.
“We are ready to cooperate further. We are ready to take the path of negotiations,” Putin said.
Scholz and Putin’s meeting came a day after he traveled to Kyiv to support Ukraine during talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
These diplomatic discussions are one way to resolve the conflict between Kiev and Moscow, given that Russia has already stationed thousands of their troops near the Ukrainian border, sparking a potential invasion.
Earlier, Russia confirmed the withdrawal of some troops from the Ukrainian border. It is still not known exactly what Russia will do after this.
A number of countries in Europe as well as the United States have threatened that any military action will be met with heavy economic penalties.
(ptj)
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