President Vladimir Putin says the Kremlin will make its decisions based on the interests of Russia. (AP PHOTO)
Russian President Vladimir Putin says all proposals for a settlement in the four-and-a-half-year-old war with Ukraine remain on the table but Russia still needs to assess what is in its best interest, Russian news agencies report.
Putin, addressing Russian journalists, also said that the Kremlin had been ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine after last week’s Russian parliamentary elections but Ukraine had launched attacks on Moscow and hit polling stations.
The Russian president said it was Ukraine that had launched provocative attacks and would now have to pay the price of a sustained response.
“They are the ones who started it. Everywhere, on every front. Are these playthings, child’s play?” Putin told reporters.
Ukrainian soldiers have been defending the country from Russian forces for more than four years. (AP PHOTO)
“They should therefore be made to feel Russia’s retaliatory strikes and understand that no provocative actions, no stirring up the situation to secure a result will work. They’re only making things worse for themselves.”
He said these actions stood behind Ukraine’s calls for a ceasefire and a resumption of talks.
“They are all on the table. It’s all possible,” he said.
“But after everything they have done, we will still have to think carefully about what we need to do in response.”
I held a Staff meeting. Among the key issues were the results from testing our interceptors against Russian jet-powered “shahed” drones. The teams working on interceptions delivered reports on the shoot-down rate and their experience. We identified the main capabilities that can strengthen our defense. We are accelerating production. There are also new decisions on establishing in Ukraine the production of different types of jet engines. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine delivered a detailed report on Russia’s technological plans for 2027, specifically, the capabilities the enemy is counting on, its production capacity, and the supply networks it uses to bring components into Russia. We are adjusting our countermeasures in line with these threats. A priority task for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and our entire diplomatic service is securing new sanctions packages from our partners, specifically targeting the shadow networks the Russians use to sustain the production of drones and missiles, especially ballistic missiles. Additional decisions were also made to protect our data centers and other facilities critical to communications and ensure their uninterrupted operation. These decisions must be fully implemented at every level. And this is the personal responsibility of government officials and the heads of the security services. Glory to Ukraine!
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 25, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that he asked US President Donald Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his influence to get Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy added that the United States is pushing for a three-way meeting involving delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia, with officials holding technical talks in that format without the countries’ leaders.
with AP