Putin tells African leaders Russia ready to enter negotiations to end war
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Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed at the Russia-Africa forum in St. Petersburg on July 29 that he was ready to enter negotiations to end the war.
At the same time, Putin repeated to African leaders the Kremlin propaganda trope that Ukraine, the United States and NATO do not want negotiations.
"All contradictions should be resolved during negotiations, but the problem is that they refuse to negotiate with us,” Putin was quoted as saying by the Kremlin-controlled news agency RIA Novosti.
“The basis of the conflict is the creation of threats to Russia by the United States and NATO, and they refuse to negotiate on the issues of ensuring equal security for everyone, including Russia,” Putin said.
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“And Ukraine itself, or rather, today's Ukrainian regime, refuses to negotiate," Putin added, mentioning the order of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that there should be no negotiations with the Russian dictator after the Kremlin falsely claimed it had annexed the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson.
"We are ready for these negotiations. But we cannot impose these negotiations. It is necessary to conduct a dialogue from that side as well," Putin said.
During another meeting with the leaders of African countries, Putin stated that the "neutral status of Ukraine" is of fundamental importance for the Russian Federation, the Kremlin-controlled Russian state news agency TASS wrote.
Read also: African leaders lean on Putin to return to the Black Sea grain deal – report
Ukraine was a neutral state when Russia launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion and war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, Finland has abandoned its neutrality and joined NATO (with Sweden soon to follow), which has roughly doubled the length of Russia’s border with NATO states.
Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a large majority of Ukrainians (83%, in a poll conducted in October of 2022) say they want their country to join the defense alliance.
Only 28% of Ukrainians were in favor of joining NATO in 2012 — two years before Russia launched its covert war and initial invasion of Ukraine.
Read also: Russia threatening Black Sea blockade, poor showing for RU Africa summit, Shoigu in NK
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
