Putin echoes Trump claim Ukraine war could have been avoided if he was in office
The Russian president also said Moscow was ready for talks with the US on a broad range of issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday echoed US President Donald Trump’s claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022.
He also said Moscow is ready for talks with the US on a broad range of issues.
In an interview with Russian state television, Mr Putin praised Mr Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests.
“I couldn’t disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn’t stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided.”
Mr Putin’s statement was his bluntest endorsement yet of Mr Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.
Mr Trump also has said repeatedly he would not have allowed the conflict to start if he had been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in the east of the country between Kyiv’s forces and separatists aligned with Moscow, ahead of Mr Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022.
On Thursday, Mr Trump told Fox News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should have made a deal with Mr Putin to avoid the conflict.
Mr Putin emphasised on Friday that he is open to talks but pointed to Mr Zelensky’s 2022 decision to rule out negotiations with Moscow.
“How is it possible to conduct talks if they are banned?” Mr Putin said.
“If the talks start in the existing legal framework, they would be illegitimate and the results of those talks could also be declared illegitimate.”
“We can have quite a lot of points of contact with the current administration and search for solutions to key issues of today,” Mr Putin said.
He said the sanctions against Russia introduced during Mr Trump’s first term and under Joe Biden’s administration had hurt US interests, undermining the dollar’s role in the global financial system.
Mr Putin described Mr Trump as “not only clever, but a pragmatic man,” adding: “I find it hard to imagine that he would make decisions that would hurt the American economy.”
“We’d better meet and have a calm conversation on all issues of interest to both the United States and Russia based on today’s realities,” Mr Putin said.
He noted that as top oil producers and major industrial powers, Russia and the US are not interested in global oil prices being either too low or too high.
“We have things to talk about,” Mr Putin said.
Speaking by video from the White House to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Mr Trump said the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries shares responsibility for the nearly three-year-old conflict in Ukraine because it has kept oil prices too high.
Energy sales form a large part of Russia’s earnings.
Asked about Mr Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov affirmed Moscow’s view that the conflict was triggered by the West’s refusal to take into account Russian security interests.
“The conflict doesn’t depend on oil prices,” Mr Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
“The conflict is ongoing because of the threat to Russia’s national security, the threat to Russians living on those territories and the refusal by the Americans and the Europeans to listen to Russia’s security concerns. It’s not linked to oil prices.”
Mr Peskov’s comments echoed Mr Putin’s statements that he had to send troops into Ukraine to fend off a threat to Russia’s security resulting from plans for Ukraine to join Nato and to protect Russian speakers living there.
Ukraine and the West have denounced Moscow’s action as an unprovoked act of aggression.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump threatened to impose stiff tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement is not reached to end the fighting in Ukraine.
Mr Peskov said the Kremlin was closely following Mr Trump’s statements and noted he imposed a slew of sanctions in his first term.
He said Moscow “remains ready for an equal dialogue, for a mutually respectful dialogue”.
“This dialogue took place between the two presidents during Trump’s first presidency. And we are waiting for signals that we have not received yet,” Mr Peskov said.
