The Russian president has said he has nothing against providing Ukraine with security guarantees, as long as they are not at Moscow\u2019s expense<\/p>\n
Wrapping up a four-day visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded questions from the press on Wednesday.
\nPutin clarified that Moscow does not oppose the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine per se, but that they should not undermine the security of other nations, including Russia. The Kremlin continues to insist that Kiev not join NATO, but it could be a member of the European Union, the Russian president stated.
\nHe also dismissed claims that Russia and the US had discussed \u201csecurity guarantees in exchange for territories\u201d during Putin\u2019s meeting with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, in Alaska last month.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
West encouraged Ukraine to reject Russia\u2019s 2022 peace terms \u2013 Putin<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, we are not so much fighting for territories \u2013 I\u2019d like to stress \u2013 as for\u2026 the right of the people living in those territories to speak their native language, live within the framework of their culture and traditions,\u201d Putin said.
\nBy way of example, he mentioned that the residents of Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People\u2019s Republics, and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions had voted overwhelmingly in referendums to join Russia. \u201cThat\u2019s what democracy is all about,\u201d the Russian president declared.
\nGiven US President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201csincere desire to find a solution\u201d to the Ukraine conflict, \u201cthere is some light at the end of the tunnel,\u201d he stated.
\nPutin also reiterated his readiness in principle to meet with Vladimir Zelensky, including in Moscow, but said that a huge question mark still hangs over his legitimacy as Ukraine\u2019s leader.
\nZelensky\u2019s presidential term expired last May, but he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law.
\nWatch Putin\u2019s press conference in full below for these and other topics he covered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Russian president has said he has nothing against providing Ukraine with security guarantees, as long as they are not at Moscow\u2019s expense Wrapping up a four-day visit to China,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-politics","category-society"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t