Putin has no intention of giving up his demands on Ukraine - Financial Times
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin does not want to be blamed for the disruption of a possible deal of US President Donald Trump, but he does not plan to give up his maximalist demands as part of a potential peace deal.
According to Censor.NET, the Financial Times reports this.
In particular, at a press conference, the president of the aggressor country said that any cessation of hostilities should lead to a final settlement of the conflict, which would eliminate the ‘root causes’ of its invasion. Otherwise, he said, Kyiv would only get the opportunity to rearm and regroup its forces.
At the same time, Trump noted that his team is having ‘very serious discussions with Putin and others’.
According to Elina Rybakova, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, this means that Putin does not want to be blamed for disrupting a possible Trump deal, but at the same time does not feel pressured to back down from his own demands.
"They are trying to play a game of give-and-take with the US - they are watching how Trump will react if Russia creates the illusion of readiness for dialogue and offers a conditional unconditional ceasefire," she explained.
Putin also hinted at talks with Washington on the security of gas supplies to Europe. Earlier, the FT reported that Matthias Warnig, a close friend of the Russian president, is developing a plan to restart the "Nord Stream 2" gas pipeline with the participation of American investors.
"If the US and Russia reach an agreement on energy, then the gas pipeline for Europe will be safe. This is beneficial for Europe, as it will receive cheap Russian gas," Putin added.
As a reminder, Trump recently said that he had something to put pressure on Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin, but did not specify what it was.
