As he concluded a visit to China on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that his nation would continue its war in Ukraine if a peace agreement could not be achieved.
Although US President Donald Trump met with both his Russian and Ukrainian colleagues last month, diplomatic attempts to end the three-and-a-half-year conflict seem to have stopped.
Although he pledged to keep fighting and asserted that his forces were “advancing on all fronts,” Putin stated that he believed there was “light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Let’s observe how things unfold. When questioned about the likelihood of an agreement, Putin told reporters in Beijing, “If not, we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily.”
In a lengthy outburst, the Kremlin chief questioned the legitimacy of the Ukrainian leader and once again denied an emergency meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Putin, Zelensky was invited to visit Moscow if he was interested in meeting.
“I said, ‘Yes, it is possible, let Zelensky come to Moscow,’ when Donald (Trump) asked me for such a meeting,” Putin stated.
In August, a source told AFP that Zelensky had turned down a proposal to negotiate in Moscow.
Although he did not specify who would be sent, Putin stated that Russia was prepared to send a higher-level delegation to peace negotiations with Ukraine.
The Russian leader declared, “We are prepared to increase the level of delegations if that becomes necessary.”
Nine civilians were killed in a shelling of a frontline town in eastern Ukraine after Moscow launched more than 500 drones on Ukraine early on Wednesday.
