Talks ‘ridiculous’ with Ukraine’s bullets running out, says Putin
VLADIMIR PUTIN has ruled out opening peace talks with Ukraine just because Kyiv’s forces are running out of ammunition.
In a growing sign of confidence in the war effort, Putin insisted negotiations would have to focus on Moscow’s priorities and not simply allow for a pause in hostilities for Ukraine to rearm its battle-stricken military.
“It would be ridiculous for us to start negotiating with Ukraine just because it’s running out of ammunition,” Putin said, adding: “Possible negotiations are not a pause for rearming Kyiv, but a serious conversation with security guarantees for Moscow.”
The Russian president’s bullish comments come as his forces continue to capitalise on Ukraine’s shortages of ammunition and manpower to make gains along more than 600 miles of front lines. International calls for peace talks have grown, including from Pope Francis and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, as Kyiv’s allies struggle to replace shortfalls in US aid.
Putin appeared to take advantage of those calls by echoing previous warnings from Western leaders that the Kremlin would use a ceasefire to re-arm.
The remarks were made just days from this week’s Russian presidential election, for which the Russian leader is the overwhelming favourite to secure another term in office.
He said: “Are we ready for negotiations? Yes, we are, but we are only willing to negotiate based on the realities that have emerged, as they say in such cases, on the ground, rather than on some kind of fantasies created by psychotropic drugs.” Putin claimed he knew what “carrots” Ukraine would offer him as incentives if peace talks were to take place.
“They will toss out all sorts of their desires under the guise of carrots for us,” he said, casting doubt over the possibility of discussions with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president.
Kyiv has said it would only enter into talks based on its 10-point peace plan, which demands Russia withdraws its forces from the entirety of the country.
In a recent interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson, Putin accused Boris Johnson of crashing the last attempt at peace negotiations, which were known to heavily favour Moscow’s demands for blocking Ukraine’s route to potential Nato membership and significantly restricting the size of its armed forces.