Claims that Russia will attack Europe are absolute nonsense

President Putin has rejected claims that Moscow intends to attack Europe and Nato, calling them “absolute nonsense”.

Speaking to Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, at talks in China, Putin insisted allegations that Russia planned to strike deeper in Europe had no basis and were “hysteria” and “horror stories”.

“As for ‘Russia’s aggressive plans with respect to Europe’, I want to emphasise once again that this is complete nonsense, which has absolutely no basis,” the Russian leader said.

“Any sane person is perfectly aware that in Russia there has never been, is not, and will never be any desire to attack anyone,” he added.

On the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Putin said Russia had been forced to react to the security risk posed by what he referred to as an attempt by the West and Nato to absorb the entire post-Soviet space.

He also claimed that he had never opposed Ukraine joining the EU, but drew the line at Nato membership.

“As for Ukraine’s membership of the EU, we have never objected to this,” Putin said. “As for Nato, this is another issue.”

Russian officials previously framed Ukraine’s EU aspirations as part of a broader Western strategy to encroach upon Russia’s sphere of influence, particularly when Nato expansion is involved.

After the 2014 Euromaidan protests, which favoured closer ties with Europe, Russia annexed Crimea, arguing that Ukraine’s pro-EU shift was a danger to Russian-speaking populations and Russia’s strategic interests. During the 2015 Minsk Agreement negotiations, Russian officials warned that Ukraine’s European integration could undermine the peace process and Moscow’s influence in the region.

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International efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and potential peace framework for Ukraine seem to have hit a deadlock. On Monday, the Russian president said that Nato’s eastward expansion was a “root cause” of the conflict and must be addressed to secure lasting peace in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Putin and added, without elaborating, that his administration was planning to take action to bring down deaths in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“I am very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that, and we will be doing something to help people live,” Trump said in an interview on The Scott Jennings Radio Show.

Putin and Fico met during China’s Second World War anniversary celebrations in Beijing. Fico is the only European Union leader in attendance, alongside the leaders of North Korea, Iran and Myanmar, in a show of solidarity against the West.

He announced his meeting with Putin on Monday, saying that it would be followed by a meeting with President Zelensky in eastern Slovakia on Friday. Ukraine has yet to publicly confirm that meeting.

Fico had previously ruled out a summit with Zelensky, alleging that the Ukrainian president “hated” him. Zelensky will meet leaders in Paris on Thursday to discuss security guarantees with the so-called “coalition of the willing”.