“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Mr Putin said after speaking to an investment forum and before he held talks with a US delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin.
The Russian leader accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia”, thus “blocking the entire peace process” only to blame Russia for it.
Russian president Vladimir Putin, left, greets US special envoy Steve Witkoff (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“That’s their goal,” Mr Putin said.
His remarks were in line with the narrative that Russia pushed forward after Mr Trump returned to the White House this year and initiated talks with Moscow, painting Europe’s staunch support of Ukraine as one of the main hurdles on the path to peace.
He reiterated his long-held position that Russia has no plans to attack Europe – a concern regularly voiced by some European countries.
“But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that,” Mr Putin said.
The US delegation was led by Mr Witkoff, right back to camera, and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, left back to camera (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russia started the war in 2022 with its full-scale invasion of a sovereign European country, and European governments have since spent billions of dollars to support Ukraine financially and militarily, to wean themselves from energy dependence on Russia and to strengthen their own militaries to deter Moscow from seizing more territory by force.
They worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which have already faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an alleged widespread Russian sabotage campaign.
Mr Trump’s peace plan relies on Europe to provide the bulk of the financing and security guarantees for a post-war Ukraine, even though no Europeans appear to have been consulted on the original plan.
Mr Putin, right, said if Europe wanted to start a war, Russia was ‘ready right away’ (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
This is why European governments have pushed to ensure that peace efforts address European concerns, too.
Speaking with Mr Putin through a translator before the talks, Mr Witkoff said he and Mr Kushner had taken “a beautiful walk” around Moscow and described it as a “magnificent city.”
The meeting finished after almost five hours of talks behind closed doors. Both sides have yet to make a statement.
After the end of the talks, Mr Witkoff was seen arriving at the US embassy in Moscow, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Coinciding with Mr Witkoff’s trip, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European countries that have helped sustain his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
In what could be a high-stakes day of negotiations, Mr Zelensky said he was expecting swift reports from the US envoys in Moscow on whether talks could move forward, after Mr Trump’s initial 28-point plan was whittled down to 20 items in Sunday’s talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Florida.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, left, met Irish prime minister Micheal Martin in Dublin on Tuesday (Liam McBurney/PA)
“They want to report right after that meeting to us, specifically. The future and the next steps depend on these signals. Such steps will change throughout today, even hour-by-hour, I believe,” Mr Zelensky said at a news conference in Dublin with Irish prime minister Micheal Martin.
“If the signals show fair play with our partners, we then might meet very soon, meet with the American delegation,” he said.
“There is a lot of dialogue, but we need results. Our people are dying every day,” Mr Zelensky said.
“I am ready… to meet with President Trump. It all depends on today’s talks.”