Putin: Moscow and Washington agreed to resume three-way talks on Ukraine

Russia and the United States have reached an agreement on their readiness to resume three-way talks in the Russia-USA-Ukraine format, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a journalist from the Vesti television channel. According to Putin, these talks will focus on ensuring security for both Russia and Ukraine after peace is achieved.

President Putin called European countries' statements about a 'war threat' from Russia 'political schizophrenia.' According to Putin, when looking at political processes in Europe, it is clear that 'the peoples of Europe do not want to fight Russia,' and he stressed that Russia does not want this either.

Putin claims that the number of deserters in the Ukrainian army stands at half a million, 'if not more,' and that the motivation of Ukrainian citizens is declining. According to him, Russia has sought a peaceful settlement of the conflict from the very beginning — 'from the first days, from 2014' — and offered assistance in finding a negotiated solution, but Kyiv chose the path of force.

Addressing the Minsk Agreements, the president noted that Russia has always sought to enable them to reach agreement 'with that part of Ukraine that did not accept the state coup,' but they refused to do so.

Putin also rejected the very concept of war against Russia as a national idea for Ukraine. According to him, certain European countries or those from other regions of the world want to fight Russia in order to weaken it, but 'is this a national idea for Ukraine itself?' he asked rhetorically. It is impossible to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield, the president stressed, adding that 'it is better to live in friendship' with Russia.

The interview was distributed by TASS.