"Undoubtedly ready"

Ukraine: Putin emphasizes willingness to negotiate

Putin in Astana

(Bild: AFP)

In front of several heads of state from friendly countries, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin emphasized Russia's willingness to negotiate peace in the war of aggression against Ukraine. At the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he said that Russia had always advocated a political-diplomatic solution to the conflict.

His country, which has been waging a destructive war of aggression against Ukraine for more than two years, has also recently made proposals for an end to the fighting, Putin said in Astana, the capital of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan. The Kremlin insists that Ukraine relinquish occupied territories, which Kiev rejects.

Russia is grateful to the SCO states for the proposals to resolve the conflict, Putin said. "Russia is undoubtedly prepared to take these ideas and initiatives into account," he said. At the same time, he once again accused the USA and its allies of having brought about the Ukraine conflict.

Putin in Astana

(Bild: AFP)

In his confrontation with the West, Putin is striving to build a new world order - instead of "Eurocentric or Euro-Atlantic models", which have led to a growing number of crises in the world.

"The multipolar world has already become a reality," he said in his summit speech. Putin was convinced that the SCO and the group of BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other countries) would become the cornerstones of the new world order.