Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is not opposed to Europeans’ involvement in talks to end the war in Ukraine

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin

In a televised interview on Monday, Putin welcomed the Europeans to the talks, adding that other countries also have the right to take part.

"I see nothing wrong with this", Putin said, when asked what he thought of European countries insisting on a role in talks on Ukraine.

"Well, probably no one can demand anything here. Especially not from Russia," he added.

Putin said Russia respects the views of its friends from the BRICS, a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other emerging economies including Iran.

The Russian president underlined that it was the Europeans themselves that rejected peace talks with Moscow, wanting Ukraine to win on the battlefield.

"If they want to come back, they're welcome," he said.

And "in this case, of course, we are not rejecting the participation of our European countries".

"But their participation in the talks process is in demand," he added.

He criticized European countries' reaction to a meeting last week between Russian and US officials in Riyadh as "emotional".

Putin said the meeting, which was held in the absence of Ukrainian officials, was only part of a process of improving the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.

He underlined that they touched on issues related to the Ukrainian crisis, but nothing was discussed in essence.

Putin agreed with US President Donald Trump on several points but said European countries could also play a role in ending the fighting.

When asked about Europe's reaction to Trump's comments on the Ukrainian president, Putin said Volodymyr Zelensky is becoming a toxic figure among the armed forces for giving ridiculous orders, and also in society as a whole.

The US president had called Zelensky a dictator, saying that he was highly unpopular and illegitimate.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on his social media network Truth Social, raising concerns among European allies that his approach to resolving the conflict may favor Moscow.

Zelensky's five-year term was set to end in May 2024, but due to the martial law enacted in February 2022 following the war, elections cannot take place.

Despite disagreements within his own party, Trump continues to push for a peace deal that has unsettled both European leaders and US allies, reinforcing concerns over his shifting foreign policy approach.

Russia has captured around 20 percent of Ukraine and continues to steadily gain territory in the east, stressing that its “special military operation” is a response to the existential threat posed by Kiev’s pursuit of NATO membership, while Ukraine and the West label Russia’s actions as an imperialist land grab.

Zelensky has suggested granting US companies the right to extract valuable minerals from Ukraine in exchange for US security guarantees, rejecting a previous US proposal that would have given Washington 50 percent of Ukraine's critical minerals, including lithium.

He stressed that the deal was too focused on US interests, emphasizing that he could not “sell” his country.

Trump, for his part, claimed that Ukraine had “more or less” agreed to the proposal and criticized US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s treatment in Kiev, expressing his intent to revive the minerals deal.