MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (local time) said that Russia is still ready to negotiate and seek solutions to what he described was a difficult and complicated situation in Ukraine.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, Putin-who recently held extensive talks with US negotiators Steve Witkoff, said that Russia and US had agreed to resume trilateral contacts.
“I think we can reach an agreement… But if someone wants it differently, fine, it will be different. But in any case, we will achieve our objectives, and all the goals of the special military operation will be achieved. Regarding our talks with the US administration representative, yes, we agreed that we are ready to resume our trilateral contacts. The goal of these talks will be to discuss ensuring the security of Ukraine and Russia after the conclusion of a final peace agreement, not as a result of a brief suspension of hostilities. We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal,” Putin said.
Interview with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, conducted by journalist Pavel Zarubin (October 22, 2026)
Key points:
• The historical regions are not Ukrainian territory – they are the territory of historical Russia. The people living in these territories voted, first, for state independence; as a second step, they voted for reunification with the Russian Federation. Talking about any “territorial losses” is inappropriate.
• The anti-Russian campaign in European countries, the constant talk about a Russian threat and the start of preparations for war with our country, is a political schizophrenia.
❗️ It is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield; inflicting a strategic defeat on it is unrealistic.
• Those who have sought the “strategic defeat” of Russia throughout the centuries – and unfortunately, such people still exist today – will come to realize the realities of modern life and understand that it is better to live in friendship with Russia. This is in the interests of their peoples.
• If you look at the political processes taking place in Europe, it becomes obvious: the peoples of Europe do not want to fight Russia.
• We do not want this, and we are not preparing for any war with Europe. But for some reason, the current Ukrainian leadership has decided that the whole world must pay this Ukrainian leadership, fight for them, supply weapons, ammunition, equipment, and so on.
• Some European countries want to fight with Russia in order to weaken it. And how does the Ukrainian leadership itself treat its own citizens? It treats them as expendable material. They are rounded up like stray dogs on the streets and forcibly driven to the front line. Official data indicates that there is half a million deserters, over 300,000 criminal cases.
❗️ We have always advocated for a peaceful resolution, from the very first days. In 2014, we offered to help Kiev negotiate with the South East of what was then Ukraine. No – they used cannons and airplanes against the civilian population, essentially starting a war. Then the Minsk agreements were signed. We have always sought to reach an agreement with that part of Ukraine that did not agree with the State coup in Kiev.
• We are still ready to negotiate and seek solutions to this difficult, complicated situation, particularly because these are people who are very close to us. Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Everything can be agreed upon. In any case, we will accomplish our tasks, and all the goals of the special military operation will be achieved.
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• Regarding our negotiations with a representative of the United States administration, we agreed that we are ready to resume our trilateral contacts.
• The goal of these negotiations will be to discuss the issue of ensuring the security of Ukraine and Russia after peace agreements have been reached – specifically in their final version, and not as a result of a suspension of combat operations for some short period of time. We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal.
• The representative of the US administration noted that if we are to discuss issues related to ensuring security in the future for both Ukraine and Russia, then naturally we will also need to talk about the architecture of European security as a whole. And I also agree with this. Let’s see how the situation develops in the coming days.
Read the full interview
https://t.co/bpdy1iJ7qq
https://t.co/g6bHMxQw9R— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) October 22, 2026
“The US administration representative emphasized that if we are to discuss issues related to ensuring future security for both Ukraine and Russia, then, naturally, we will also need to discuss the European security architecture as a whole. And I agree with this. Well, we’ll see how the situation develops in the coming days,” he added.
Putin claimed that Russia always advocated for a peaceful resolution while it was Ukraine that had unleashed a war.
“We’ve always advocated for a peaceful resolution, from the very first days. We already talked about this in 2014: let’s help you reach an agreement with the southeast of what was then Ukraine. No, they used guns and planes against civilians; they practically unleashed a war. Then came the Minsk agreements. We always wanted them to reach an agreement with that part of Ukraine that disagreed with the coup. No, they rejected that. Then, before we began our actions to protect people in Donbas, we also told them: let’s avoid any excesses, let’s reach an agreement—no, we’ll fight. Fine,” Putin said
“I want to say that we are still ready to negotiate and seek a solution to this difficult, complex situation, in the sense that these are people very close to us, you understand? The latest genetic research shows that Russians and Ukrainians are truly one people. Okay, some people want to think differently, to think differently. Fine, we agree. That’s how the history of historical Russia unfolded, and that’s the reality of today. But everything can be agreed upon,” he added.
Putin’s affirmation comes even as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy took a jibe at what appears to be a climb-down in the US stance on Russia. “My attitude to Putin is very clear. I think that if we lift sanctions, we will make him stronger. It’s not something personal between me and President Trump, and of course I’m against any lifting of sanctions,” Zelenskyy told CNN.
Earlier on Thursday, Zelenskyy had alleged that Russia continued to attack Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles and cluster warheads. (ANI)
