Putin: We did not refuse to negotiate on Ukraine, and if they want to, they should announce it openly

Moscow (ST): Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia did not refuse to negotiate regarding Ukraine, stressing the need for the latter to explicitly announce its desire to negotiate if it wants to do so.

During his meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, today in the city of Sochi, Putin said: “We have never rejected negotiations regarding Ukraine, and if the other side wants, let them say so frankly. From the other side, we do not hear anything.”

Putin indicated that 300,000 volunteers had registered themselves to participate in the Russian military operation in Ukraine, describing the West’s claims about “acceptance of volunteers from the DPRK” to fight in the Russian military operation as “nonsense,” and stressing that Russia had monitored the presence of foreign trainers with the Ukrainian forces in battlefields, and a number of them were captured days ago.

Commenting on Western statements about the threats resulting from the visit of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un to Russia, Putin said: “We do not create any threats to anyone, and all speculation is complete nonsense,” noting that the DPRK is a neighbor of Russia.

K.Q.