Putin says he is ready for trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States

Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff that Russia is ready to resume trilateral contacts with Ukraine to discuss security issues following the achievement of a peace settlement.

“In our talks with representatives of the U.S. administration, we agreed that we are ready to resume our trilateral contacts. The purpose of these negotiations will be to discuss the issue of ensuring the security of Ukraine and Russia after reaching peace agreements,” — Putin said.

The Russian president specifically emphasized that he was referring to peace agreements “in their final form, and not as a result of a temporary suspension of hostilities for some brief period of time.”

“We are ready to resume these contacts in order to achieve this goal,” — Putin stated.

In addition to the topic of negotiations, Putin touched on relations with Europe, stating that Russia is not preparing for any war with European countries.

“The peoples of Europe do not want to fight Russia, just as Russia does not want to fight Europe,” — he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the current stage of preparations for a trilateral meeting with Russia following Witkoff’s visit. Western media also reported that Europe fears a U.S.-Russia deal reached without its participation, and is once again searching for a negotiator with Putin.