The focus will be on rationality.
Russia is ready for reasonable compromises for the sake of the settlement in Ukraine, but there are no substantive negotiations, President Vladimir Putin told the Rossiya 1 television channel on Friday.
"We are ready to seek compromises, we are ready to make sensible compromises. But I don't want to go into details now, because there are no meaningful negotiations, the opposite party rejects them"
said the head of state.
At the same time, he added that the final outcome must definitely benefit Russia and must be based on the realities of the battlefield.
"And there is no doubt that we are not going to make concessions here, there will be no trade deals"
he emphasized.
He reminded him that Turkey has repeatedly assumed the role of mediator between the parties. He said that the adviser to the Turkish president, Ibrahim Kalin, the director of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, called the Russian presidential foreign affairs adviser Yuri Usakov directly from New York and made a proposal on behalf of the Ukrainian side.
"We agreed to this, but the next day the head of the Ukrainian regime publicly stated that he would not negotiate"
said the Russian president.
“This is irrational behavior that is difficult to calculate. You can't make plans that way. Therefore, it is simply too early to talk about whether we can agree on something and what we could agree on."
- Putin stated, at the same time promising to study the documents sent to him by the Turkish side, but this takes time.
"Now, Mr. Erdogan (…) renewed again his proposals that we continue the contact regarding Black Sea shipping and some other issues"
- He told.
According to the Russian president, he has not yet had time to familiarize himself with these materials from the Turkish side.
"We have never rejected this. We simply always assumed that Russian interests must be respected in all agreements"
- He told.
"When we agreed - I repeat again - to continue contacts on this topic, a day later the Ukrainian partners suddenly declared that they are not ready. This happened once and twice. Well, at the end of the day, we need to clarify whether they are ready or not, or what they are ready for”
Putin said.
Putin and Erdogan met in Kazan on Wednesday evening. At their meeting, according to official information, they exchanged views on the Ukrainian crisis and the growing tension in the Middle East. The issue of Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchanges was also discussed.
On Thursday night in Kazan, on the occasion of the summit meeting of the BRICS countries, the Russian president received UN Secretary-General António Gutteres as the successive president of the gathering. According to the office of the top official of the world organization, the discussion was about free navigation on the Black Sea.
"The Secretary General expressed his conviction that ensuring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea is of paramount importance for Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and global food and energy security"
says the announcement.
According to the document, Guterres "fully supports the continuation of negotiations in this direction and expresses his deep appreciation for the work done by Turkey" . The parties also called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and emphasized the need to prevent further escalation in the region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press on Friday that Russia will study an unofficial draft submitted by Turkey on a possible continuation of the grain deal.
"Previous experiences were not very successful and what should have been done was not done"
- said the presidential press secretary.
The Black Sea Cereals Initiative was signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul. This made it possible to export Ukrainian grain and fertilizer from three designated Ukrainian ports that were under Russian naval blockade. The deal also guaranteed Russia that it could continue grain and fertilizer shipments and that they would be exempt from international sanctions.
Putin also said on Friday on the Rossiya 1 channel that Ukraine has lost stable control over its troops fighting in the Kursk area, so the surrounded soldiers are not really aware of the situation they are in. He added that attempts are being made to break out of the siege.
Peskov called the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal's claim that Putin regularly talks with American billionaire Elon Musk a lie. He said the Russian president communicated with Musk only once, in 2022.
MTI
Featured image: Russian President Vladimir Putin at the IX. At the plenary session of the International Cultural Forum - Forum of United Cultures event in St. Petersburg on November 17, 2023. MTI/EPA/Sputnik/Presidential press service/Pavel Bednyakov
