"Persistently called": Putin stated that he had led the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from Kiev in 2022 at the request of Europeans

Putin claims that in 2022 the Kremlin proposed to withdraw troops from Donbass and end the "conflict" immediately. "After we have taken the troops from Kiev, at the persistent calls of Western European colleagues, the situation immediately changed, and we were told that" we will be fighting now until you have his head away or we ". He also stated that the attempts of the Russian Federation to "resolve the Ukrainian question" were "launched".

As for Russia -occupied territories, Putin said that these issues can be resolved through a referendum in Ukraine, but it is necessary to abolish martial law. "They must first of all hold a referendum, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, any issues of territories are resolved only in the referendum as far as I remember. But a referendum cannot be performed in martial law. Therefore, to carry out a referendum, it is necessary to abolish martial law.

He then called President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky "the current chairman of the administration" and stated that he had never refused to meet him if he was "well prepared and lead to some positive results. " "Finally, if Zelensky is ready - let him come to Moscow," Putin said. At the same time, he added that preparing for a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump in Moscow is not conducted and there are no clear terms, but there is already an invitation on the table.

Putin also claims that he sees "light at the end of the tunnel" about the end of the war in Ukraine, but the Kremlin is ready to achieve its goals and military. We will remind, at the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at a press conference in China stated that he was ready for negotiations with the President of Ukraine, and at the same time stated that the Armed Forces were allegedly unable to conduct a large -scale offensive operation.