Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Tuesday that Russia was “ready” for war if Europe seeks one, accusing the continent’s leaders of trying to torpedo a deal on the Ukraine conflict before he met with US envoys.
Following days of intense diplomacy, US ambassador Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Moscow for high-stakes negotiations to settle the almost four-year conflict.
We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” Putin told reporters in Moscow.
He reiterated his assertion that European politicians were impeding US efforts to mediate peace in Ukraine. “They have no peaceful agenda, they are on the side of war,” he continued.
The European modifications to Trump’s most recent proposal to end the war, he continued, “aimed solely at one thing — to completely block the entire peace process and put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia.”
Washington has proposed a 28-point plan to end the conflict, later altered after criticism from Kyiv and Europe, who perceived it as heeding to many of Russia’s maximalist demands.
The plan to end the war is championed by Trump, but European countries think it risks compelling Kyiv to cave in to Russian demands, mainly on territory.
Europe has often stated that an unequal peace should not be pushed on Ukraine out of fear of more Russian aggression.
Now, the Trump envoys are trying to get Moscow and Kyiv to approve the idea.
