Ukraine conflict, energy crisis and ‘colonial’ West: Putin’s latest press conference

Vladimir Putin reiterated the goals of Russia’s military operation and blasted the Western elite’s attitude

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the media on Friday following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Earlier, he met with the leaders of China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.

In his first press conference since July, the president was asked about the conflict with the West, the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, and the energy crisis in the European Union, among other things.

Here are some of the key moments from Putin’s press conference.

Prospects of peace talks with Ukraine are uncertain

Russia was ready to agree to security guarantees for Ukraine proposal during Istanbul talks back in March, Russian president revealed. However, the negotiations were scuppered by Kiev.
“The troops were withdrawn from Kiev in order to create conditions for the reaching of this deal. Instead of inking it, the Kiev authorities immediately abandoned all agreements. They announced that they would not seek any deals with Russia, but would seek victory on the battlefield. Well, let them,” Putin said.
The prospects of further negotiations or personal talks between him and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky remain uncertain, Putin admitted. “First of all, they should agree [to hold the talks]. But they refuse. Zelensky declared that… he was not ready and not willing to talk with Russia. Well, if he’s not ready – there’s no need [for that],” Putin said.

On what caused the EU energy crisisThe ongoing energy crisis in Europe, which is routinely blamed on Russia and the fallout of its military operation in Ukraine, started long before the ongoing events, Putin believes. The EU created the crisis itself, and now is merely trying to solve it “at the expense of others,” he said.

“The energy crisis in Europe did not begin with the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, in Donbass, not with this, much earlier, a year ago, if not even earlier. It began, while it may sound strange, with the ‘green’ agenda,”Putin stated, adding that while introducing green energy is important for tackling climate change, multiple European countries opted to ditch fossil-fuel energy at once to reach short-term political goals.
The Russian president also mocked the idea floated by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen of sending the growing energy bills to Moscow, dismissing it as

Highlights of Putin’s first press conference since July

Ukraine conflict, energy crisis and ‘colonial’ West: Putin’s latest press conference

Vladimir Putin reiterated the goals of Russia’s military operation and blasted the Western elite’s attitude

The Tap Blog

Search The Tap

Help Support The Tap

Under New Management

Get the Full Story

Tap Archives

Recent Posts

Sharing

Recent Comments

SUBMIT NEWS