Russian President Vladimir Putin told G20 leaders on Wednesday that the world must think about how to stop the “tragedy” of the war in Ukraine, insisting that Moscow has never refused to participate in peace talks with Kiev, Reuters reported.

Vladimir PutinPhoto: Mykhailo Klimentiev / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia

Addressing G20 leaders for the first time since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin noted that some heads of state have said in their comments that they are shocked by the ongoing Russian “aggression” in Ukraine.

“Yes, of course, military operations are always a tragedy. And, of course, we have to think about how to stop this tragedy,” said the head of the Kremlin.

“By the way, Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine,” he added.

Despite his comments, peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv last spring, shortly after the invasion began, broke down after Russia ignored demands for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory in exchange for Ukraine’s acceptance of neutrality status and other expressed claims . by Putin

The message sent by Moscow literally a day ago about Ukraine

Putin’s comments on Wednesday came just a day after a senior diplomatic official in Moscow stressed that Russia believes it cannot “co-exist” with the current “regime” in Ukraine.

“The current regime [de la Kiev] it is absolutely toxic, we do not see any option of coexistence with it at the moment,” ambassador plenipotentiary Rodion Miroshnyk told reporters in Moscow.

Miroshnyk also accused Ukraine of committing war crimes against the civilian population and that NATO supplied Kyiv with weapons prohibited by international treaties. But, according to him, the West will eventually lose interest in Ukraine.

“We can oppose NATO as long as it is necessary to fulfill the tasks formulated by the president,” the diplomat also said.

Putin avoided the last two G20 summits, which bring together developed and emerging economies, instead sending his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and spoke via video conference from Moscow at the 2021 and 2020 summits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. .

The last time he personally attended such a summit was in 2019 in Osaka, Japan.

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