Putin says Ukraine settlement proposals remain on the table, but Russia must weigh its interests

St Petersburg, Russia. President Vladimir Putin said all proposals to settle Russia’s 4-1/2-year-old war with Ukraine remained on the table, but Moscow still needed to assess what was in its best interests.

Putin accuses Ukraine of provocations

Speaking to journalists in Russia’s second-largest city, Putin said Moscow had been ready to resume negotiations with Kyiv after last week’s Russian parliamentary elections. He said Ukraine had instead launched attacks on Moscow and hit polling stations.

“They are the ones who started it. Everywhere, on every front. Are these playthings, child’s play?” Putin said in remarks broadcast on Russian television. He said Ukraine would face a sustained response to what he called provocative attacks.

“They should therefore be made to feel Russia’s retaliatory strikes and understand that no provocative actions, no stirring up the situation to secure a result, will work. They’re only making things worse for themselves,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said attacks on Russia were a fair response to strikes on Ukraine’s civilians and infrastructure. He has also called for direct talks with Russia to resolve the war.

Strikes and prospects for talks

Putin said Russia’s retaliatory actions were behind Ukraine’s calls for a ceasefire and renewed talks. “They are all on the table. It’s all possible,” he said of settlement proposals. “But after everything they have done, we will still have to think carefully about what we need to do in response.”

Russian forces have long struck Ukrainian cities, mostly at night. In recent weeks, they have targeted Kyiv and other towns with day-long barrages of drones and missiles. Air strikes on Friday killed seven people in the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine has carried out a series of strikes on Russian targets over several months, focusing on the oil industry and retail outlets. Some targets were as far as 3,000 km (1,800 miles) from the Ukrainian border.