Putin: We Have No Intention of Waging War on Europe, But If It Wants One, We Are Ready Now

Russian President Vladimir Putin explained to the press why Europe is not participating in peace negotiations to end the Ukrainian conflict.

The Russian leader emphasized that the Old Continent excluded itself from the peace process, as the thesis of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia remains in force there to this day. He added that European countries live with these "illusions," though they "reflexively understand" that it is a thing of the past and could not be. "They confused wishful thinking with reality. They cannot admit it to themselves," Putin declared.

Another reason, according to the Russian head of state, is that, due to dissatisfaction with the results of the current peace dialogue, Europe began to "hinder" the U.S. Administration and the American leader himself from "achieving peace through negotiations." In this context, Putin also denounced that the EU bloc does not have "a peaceful agenda."

"They are on the side of war, and even when they try to supposedly introduce some changes to Trump's proposals, we clearly see that all these changes have a single goal: to block the entire peace process and put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia," the Russian leader asserted.

Furthermore, the Russian president indicated that if Europe starts a war with Russia, soon "Moscow will have no one to negotiate with."

"We are not going to wage war on Europe, I have said it a hundred times. But if Europe suddenly wants to wage war on us and does so, we are prepared right now," Putin asserted.

This past Sunday, delegations from the U.S. and Ukraine met in Florida to continue negotiations on Donald Trump's peace plan. According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the talks were productive, but he noted that work remains. For his part, the leader of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, stated at a press conference in Paris that he considers the territorial issue the most difficult in the dialogue for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Putin Meets with Witkoff

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin received U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, accompanied by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the Kremlin to discuss Washington's peace plan.

The current context is unfavorable for Ukraine, given the massive corruption scandal shaking the inner circle of the regime's leader, Vladimir Zelensky, which led to the dismissal of the head of his Office and chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak. Trump suggested on Sunday that this weakens Ukraine's position.

On the front lines, Kiev also faces a complex situation. The initiative is in the hands of Russian forces, according to Putin's statement at a meeting with military commanders held on November 30 and reported by the Kremlin this Monday. This coincided with news of the liberation of the key city of Krasnoarmeisk (known in Ukraine as Pokrovsk) in the Donetsk People's Republic. The president highlighted the importance of this advance for Russia: "It will help us progressively resolve all the main tasks set before us, which were established initially at the start of the special military operation."