Putin claims Russia has never opposed Ukraine's accession to the EU but sends a threatening message to Kiev
Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Photo credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Profimedia
In Beijing, the Kremlin leader began talking about peace in Ukraine again, while Russian forces continued their attacks on the battlefield and civil targets, writes Reuters.
Vladimir Putin told Beijing that he never opposed a possible accession to Ukraine at the European Union, but said he did not agree with the accession of this country at NATO.
He argued, in the comments reported by Reuters, that with the expansion of NATO to the east, the Alliance wanted to absorb the entire post-Soviet space, and Russia simply wanted to defend its interests.
Putin also repeated that Ukraine's accession to NATO is unacceptable to Russia.
It is not for the first time that Putin signals that Russia would agree to Ukraine's accession to the EU. However, the messages from Russia were a contradictory.
In June, former President Dmitri Medvedev, current vice of the Security Council, said that the membership of Ukraine at the EU would be dangerous and that Moscow opposes this step.
Russia began to “respond seriously” to Ukrainian attacks
In the statements made in Beijing, during the meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Kremlin leader rejected Western suggestions that Russia intended to test Europe and NATO.
“We notice that a certain hysteria is constantly feeding on the alleged plans of Russia to attack Europe. Because any person with common sense knows very well that Russia has not had, has and will never have the intention of attacking anyone,” he said.
Russia has threatened Europe with a harsh response, against the background of Ukraine, including the use of nuclear weapons.
Putin said in Beijing that there are “options to ensure the security of Ukraine” if the war is over and that they were discussed with Donald Trump at the Alaska summit, although he did not explain what those would be.
Instead, the Russian president told Kiev that Russia has begun to “seriously respond” to Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure, after “remained patient for a long time.”
Russia has so far attacked the Ukrainian emergency and civil infrastructure.
Putin's urge for Fico
In the discussion with Fico, Putin urged Eastern European countries to interrupt the provision of gases and oil to Ukraine, saying that this would stop Ukrainian attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure.
Putin said Monday that the agreements approved at the summit with US President Donald Trump in August open the way to finding a solution to the Ukraine.
However, the statement came immediately after the Kremlin claimed that the European powers prevent Donald Trump's efforts to obtain peace in Ukraine and that Russia will continue its operations in Ukraine until Moscow will see real signs that Kiev is prepared for peace.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the Russian official press that the “European War Party” continues to prevent US and Russia's efforts in Ukraine.
The Alaska summit has generated a series of confident statements, especially from the US, but no concrete results.
Despite Trump's optimism, who spoke about the organization of a summit with Volodimir Zelenski and Putin, the Russian side avoided confirming such a meeting.
Moscow also refused to make concessions and supported its maximalist requests to Ukraine.
