Putin says he is ready for talks with Ukraine, but ‘based on Istanbul deal’

Putin said this at a meeting with the heads of the ‘leading media’ of the BRICS countries.

‘We are ready for a dialogue on a peaceful end to the conflict, but only on the basis of the document that has been prepared in negotiations over several months and initialed by the Ukrainian side. We are ready to continue working on this basis,’ the Russian leader said of the Istanbul agreements.

At the same time, during the press conference, Putin promoted contradictory narratives. The Russian leader said that ‘Russia is interested in ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible by peaceful means’ and that he was ready to ‘continue the armed struggle’.

• On October 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country expects Ukraine to recognize the temporarily occupied territories as Russian and to refuse to join NATO.