Putin tells Ukraine he’s ready for peace talks, gives conditions

Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan he was open to dialogue with Ukraine, but only if Kyiv accepts ‘new territorial realities’.

Russian troops occupy large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine. The Kremlin claims it has annexed the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions despite not controlling them in their entirety.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Putin told Erdogan peace talks are possible, but only if Ukraine accepts that territories occupied by Moscow as Russian.

‘Putin again confirmed Russia’s openness to serious dialogue on the condition of Kyiv authorities fulfilling the well-known and repeatedly voiced requirements of taking into account the new territorial realities,’ the Kremlin said in a statement.

Erdogan had called for peace talks in the phone call with Putin, his office said earlier.

‘The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets,’ the statement from the Kremlin added.