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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Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first formal talks in nine months. They did so with no agreement on what a ceasefire would be tied to or who gets to keep the land currently under Russian control.
At least 17 people have been reported killed in an explosion at a steel plant in western Türkiye, after a crane collapsed during maintenance work. The disaster has prompted a criminal investigation into what went wrong at the industrial facility.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner said Washington believes the Russian President is prepared to reach a peace agreement under the right conditions, as U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations began trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 10 November.
Armenia could lose its voting rights within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on 11 November after failing to pay membership fees for more than two years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
Two days of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi have ended with an agreement on a major prisoner exchange, but key disputes over security and territory remain unresolved.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran has unveiled a new underground missile and drone base, warning that it will respond forcefully to any attack, as tensions persist with the U.S. and oil tankers continue to be struck by naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Hundreds of schools in Italy have been evacuated following emailed bomb threats, as similar messages spread to Scotland and Ireland. Police say the threats are not credible.
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