Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Moscow wanted to end the war in Ukraine through negotiations as soon as possible, while insisting that any settlement must meet conditions acceptable to Russia and include security guarantees.
Speaking at the Valdai Forum, Putin said Russia would prefer a negotiated end to the conflict and reiterated Moscow's demand that Ukraine remain neutral after hostilities end.
“We are ready for talks and to wrap them up as soon as possible, but on conditions acceptable for the Russian people,” Putin said.
He described Ukrainian neutrality as one of Russia’s objectives and said Moscow needed guarantees addressing its security concerns.
Putin also claimed Russian forces had taken control of 1,301 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in September.
Despite expressing support for negotiations, Putin rejected proposals to halt strikes in the Black Sea, answering “no” when asked about such an arrangement.
Russia has also intensified its aerial campaign against Ukraine in recent days.
On Wednesday, Russian forces launched their heaviest combined attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in months, killing seven people, including a child, and forcing emergency power cuts around Kyiv as winter approaches.
Strikes continued on Thursday, with Russian drones hitting a school and the Southern Bridge in Kyiv, while Odesa was also targeted.
Ukraine has meanwhile stepped up its own attacks inside Russia, including strikes on oil refineries that Putin acknowledged on Thursday had cost the Russian economy around 1% of GDP.
Putin also accused Western countries of being directly involved in Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russian territory.
He argued that Kyiv would be unable to carry out such strikes without Western technical assistance and said using Ukraine as a proxy to fight Russia represented a threat to Moscow.
Putin said Russia was not on the verge of attacking factories in Western countries producing weapons for Ukraine, but added that Russian military and intelligence agencies needed to closely monitor them.
Open to meeting Trump and Xi
Putin also said he was ready to hold a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, provided an agenda was agreed beforehand.
The Kremlin raised the possibility in September of the three leaders meeting around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November.
Such a meeting would bring together the leaders of the world's three major nuclear powers as diplomatic efforts surrounding the Ukraine war continue.
On developments in the region, the Russian leader expressed support for the development of the North-South Transport Corridor terming the project 'promising'.
He also said Moscow was ready to provide necessary financing towards the initiative citing ongoing talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"We are in contact with President Aliyev, and there are no issues whatsoever. Azerbaijan agrees with the implementation of this project and considers it promising.
As for the International North-South Transport Corridor, we are prepared to provide loan financing. The necessary financial resources have been allocated for this purpose" he said.
Meanwhile Putin called on Iran to fulfil it's obligation under the project.
The International North-South Transport Corridor is a joint logistics project between Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and India which is aimed at boosting freight transit across the Eurasian region.
Putin also addressed the fate of Western companies whose Russian assets have been placed under state administration since relations with Europe deteriorated.
He denied that Moscow had nationalised foreign businesses and portrayed the measures as retaliation for actions taken against Russian assets in Europe.
“We have not nationalised anything from anyone,” Putin said, accusing some European countries of seizing Russian businesses in violation of established rules.
Asked whether Western companies could eventually regain their assets if relations improved and a “favourable scenario” emerged, Putin replied: “Yes, they would get them back.”
Russia has placed a number of Western-owned businesses under what it calls temporary external administration since the escalation of its confrontation with the West over Ukraine.
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