The Russian president has held a major press conference concluding a four-day visit with his Chinese counterpart and numerous world leaders<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin has concluded his four-day visit to China. Ahead of his departure on Wednesday, he held a major Q&A session, speaking to the media on a broad range of topics, including bilateral ties with Beijing, the potential settlement of the Ukraine conflict, international security architecture.
\nHere are the key takeaways from the press conference:
\n\u2018Very useful\u2019 visit
\nThe visit, which was the longest foreign trip for the Russian leader since 2014, combined multiple high-profile events and informal meetings with different leaders. Putin said the format had proven to be \u201cvery useful,\u201d not only \u201cgood for meeting at the negotiating table but, more importantly, for holding many informal discussions on any issue of mutual interest in an informal and friendly atmosphere.\u201d
\n\u201cSo, when we planned my visit, we did it so as to avoid moving a long distance many times. I would like to remind you that the schedule included the SCO summit, a trilateral Russia-Mongolia-China meeting, and a visit to the People\u2019s Republic of China proper,\u201d Putin told reporters.<\/p>\n
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Putin reveals details of major Russia-China gas deal<\/p>\n
Power of Siberia 2 pipeline
\nChina and Russia have reached an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, concluding years of talks on the major project, Putin said. The resulting deal on the 50 billion cubic meter per year pipeline has\u00a0left\u00a0everyone \u201csatisfied\u201d and \u201cpleased,\u201d according to the Russian president.\u00a0
\n\u201cThis is not charity \u2013 we\u2019re talking about mutually beneficial agreements based on market principles,\u201d he stressed.
\nEnd of Ukraine conflict in sight?
\nThe potential settlement of the enduring conflict between Russia and Ukraine might have drawn closer thanks to the position of the US, Putin said. President Donald Trump and his administration appear to have a \u201cgenuine desire to find the solution,\u201d he noted.
\n\u201cI think there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel. Let\u2019s see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to achieve all the goals set before us by force,\u201d the Russian president said.
\nWest shifting responsibility for Ukraine conflict
\nAsked about recent hostile remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who called the Russian president a \u201cwar criminal,\u201d Putin said it was merely a part of the strategy to shift western responsibility for the Ukraine conflict.
\n\u201cI think that [Merz\u2019s remark] was an unsuccessful attempt to absolve himself, maybe not himself personally, but his country and the collective West\u2026 of the responsibility for the tragedy that is currently unfolding in Ukraine,\u201d Putin stated, adding that the Western European nations have been pushing the situation towards an armed conflict for a decade by \u201ccompletely ignoring Russia\u2019s security interests.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Putin ready to host Zelensky in Moscow<\/p>\n
Putin ready to meet Zelensky
\nThe Russian president reiterated his readiness to meet Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky. However, he once again underlined Moscow\u2019s concern that Zelensky lacks legitimacy and questioned whether meeting him would actually be \u201cmeaningful.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a path to nowhere, to just meet, let\u2019s put it carefully, the de-facto head of the [Ukrainian] administration. It\u2019s possible, I\u2019ve never refused to if such a meeting is well-prepared and would lead to some potential positive results,\u201d Putin said. \u201cIf Zelensky is ready, he can come to Moscow, and such a meeting will take place.\u201d\u00a0
\nOn security guarantees
\nPutin dismissed rumors of discussions about \u201csecurity guarantees\u201d for Ukraine in exchange for ceding territories it claims as its own. The territorial issue was never the priority for Moscow, the Russian leader said. The special military operation has been a fight for \u201chuman rights, for the right of the people who live in these territories to speak their native tongue and live according to their culture and traditions,\u201d the president stressed.\u00a0
\n\u201cSecurity guarantees are natural, I often talk about this. We proceed from the fact that any country should have these guarantees and a security system, and Ukraine is no exception. But this is not connected with any exchanges, especially with territorial exchanges,\u201d Putin explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Russian president has held a major press conference concluding a four-day visit with his Chinese counterpart and numerous world leaders Russian President Vladimir Putin has concluded his four-day visit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17440,"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-17439","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