Putin turned everything upside down last night, literally

Putin called claims about a &ldquo;Russian attack on NATO&rdquo; absurd and a &ldquo;deliberate manipulation,&rdquo; while also stating that Russia is ready for peace with Ukraine and that any negotiations with the country should be mediated by a neutral party.&ldquo;What is the point of attacking Europe and fighting NATO? This is not just nonsense, it is a deliberate provocation designed to create a threat that does not actually exist and to force the populations of those countries to spend more money on defense,&rdquo; Putin said in a conversation with heads of leading international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which lasted about two hours.Asked to comment on a statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the war in Ukraine is a &ldquo;catastrophe for Russia,&rdquo; Putin said that the reality on the ground shows otherwise, according to the RIA Novosti agency.&ldquo;First of all, and this must be emphasized, Russian troops are advancing along the entire line of contact,&rdquo; he said.He also stated that Ukraine is facing a catastrophic shortage of manpower, allegedly losing about 40,000 people per month.&ldquo;People are being forcibly conscripted, there is no motivation, no one wants to fight. Around 200,000 criminal cases for desertion have been opened,&rdquo; the Russian president said.According to him, Russian forces have recently taken control of approximately 2,440 square kilometers, the Luhansk region&mdash;recognized by Russia as the Luhansk People&rsquo;s Republic&mdash;has been fully &ldquo;liberated,&rdquo; while Russian troops control about 85% of Donetsk region and 80% of Zaporizhzhia region.The &ldquo;Oreshnik&rdquo; system was not used against Ukraine Tanjug/AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, PoolSpeaking about the use of the ballistic missile &ldquo;Oreshnik,&rdquo; Putin said that Russia has not had &ldquo;any combat use of the &lsquo;Oreshnik&rsquo; missile in the full sense of the word on Ukrainian territory.&rdquo;He added that the most recent strikes involving the missile were conducted &ldquo;where it was convenient to observe the results,&rdquo; that the effects were monitored by drones, and that data was collected in order to &ldquo;make future decisions on the full-scale use of the &lsquo;Oreshnik&rsquo; missile against specific targets, including urban areas.&rdquo;&ldquo;Ready for peace, but Europe is not neutral&hellip;&rdquo;During the meeting with heads of international media, Putin repeatedly stated that Russia is ready for peace, that the conditions are known, and that they were discussed in Anchorage, adding that US President Donald Trump is aware of them.&ldquo;The Ukrainian side must agree to the same compromises, and the conflict will quickly come to its natural end. I get the impression that the ruling circles in Kyiv are not interested in ending the fighting because they would lose power if they did so,&rdquo; the Russian leader said.Putin also said that Russian control over Donbas and a settlement agreement on Ukraine are not mutually exclusive.Asked who Moscow could accept as a mediator from the European side, aside from former German Chancellor Gerhard Schr&ouml;der, Putin said that EU countries are generally unsuitable because they are not neutral.&ldquo;Mediation presupposes neutrality. What kind of mediators can countries be that are effectively involved in military actions?&rdquo; he said.Speaking about Schr&ouml;der, he added that &ldquo;he is not Putin&rsquo;s friend, as is often said,&rdquo; but a German statesman who has the courage to defend his position.Putin said that both sides must trust a mediator and that this is a practical matter that can be discussed &ldquo;quietly and calmly, at the level of foreign ministries or intelligence agencies,&rdquo; adding that contacts between intelligence services are continuing.He also said that Zelensky&rsquo;s presidential mandate expired in May 2024 and that new elections have not yet been scheduled.&ldquo;We would like, if we are signing historic documents, to sign them with legitimate individuals. If there is political will, we will find someone to sign with,&rdquo; he concluded.As for what he would say in a personal meeting, Putin said he would say &ldquo;at the very least what should be said&mdash;&lsquo;thank God it&rsquo;s all over.&rsquo;&rdquo;

Putin turned everything upside down last night, literally

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