Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the agreements reached at the summit of the Russian Federation and the United States in Alaska create the basis for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.
Speaking at the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Vladimir Putin praised the efforts of China, India and other strategic partners aimed at resolving the Ukrainian crisis.
“The understandings reached at the recent Russian-American summit in Alaska, I hope, also go in this direction, opening the way to peace in Ukraine,” the Russian president said.
Putin outlined the causes of the crisis in Ukraine for his foreign colleagues, noting that the conflict began as a result of the coup d’etat in Kiev, supported and provoked by the West, as well as attempts to suppress resistance by force in regions that did not accept the new government.
Another reason for the crisis, the Russian president called the West’s desire to include Ukraine in NATO, which, according to him, poses a direct threat to Russia’s security. Putin added that after the events of 2014, the Ukrainian political leadership, which opposed joining the North Atlantic Alliance, was removed.
“In order for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long—term, the root causes of the crisis, which I have repeatedly mentioned earlier, must be eliminated, and a fair balance in the security sphere restored,” the Russian head of state noted.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin did not rule out holding a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky in case of careful preparation of the negotiation process to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
