Putin’s remarks came as US envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner were in Moscow for high-stakes talks on ending the Ukraine war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia is ‘ready’ for war if Europe chooses escalation, accusing European allies of sabotaging US-led efforts to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine. He claimed European leaders are no longer prioritising negotiations and are instead backing continued hostilities in Ukraine.
Putin’s latest remarks appeared aimed at creating friction between US President Donald Trump and European nations, while positioning Moscow to avoid blame for stalled peace efforts.
‘We are ready’: Putin
“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin said after speaking to an investment forum and before he met in the Kremlin with a US delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Putin accused European countries of modifying peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thereby “blocking the entire peace process” and then shifting the blame onto Moscow.
“Thatโs their goal,” he said.
Reiterating a long-standing stance, Putin insisted that Russia has no intention of attacking Europe, countering concerns repeatedly raised by several European governments. “We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now. There can be no doubt about that,” Putin further said.
Russia-Ukraine peace plan
His remarks come as US envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner meet in Moscow to discuss potential steps to end nearly four-year war. Washington has circulated a 28-point peace proposal that was revised after pushback from Kyiv and European capitals, which criticised the initial draft for appearing too accommodating to Moscow’s conditions.
European governments have voiced concerns that any peace structure could pressure Ukraine to give up territory currently under Russian control.
Russia started the war in 2022 with its full-scale invasion of a sovereign European country, and European governments have since spent billions of dollars to support Ukraine financially and militarily, to wean themselves from energy dependence on Russia and to strengthen their own militaries to deter Moscow from seizing more territory by force.
They worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which already have faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an alleged widespread Russian sabotage campaign.
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