Russia is ready for talks on Ukraine, Putin says. Ukraine responds

This is reported by TASS.

“Russia is ready for negotiations regarding Ukraine,” said Putin.

At the same time, he added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to ban dialogue with Moscow “makes any potential negotiations illegitimate.”

The Russian leader believes that “under Zelenskyy’s ‘ban decree,’ it is unlikely” that negotiations with Kyiv are possible.

The Kremlin’s leader also claimed that “Kyiv’s sponsors will force” Zelenskyy to reverse his decision on dialogue with Russia.

Ukraine’s response

The head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, stated that Putin is trying to promote the idea of negotiations with the United States about Ukraine.

“But he has one condition: he wants to negotiate the fate of Europe without Europe. And he aims to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine. That will not happen. Putin needs to return to reality himself, or he will be made to return,” Yermak wrote.

• On January 22, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine. He threatened to impose high taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on all Russian exports to the U.S. if Putin refused.
• The next day, Trump expressed a desire to meet with Putin soon to “end this war.”