Putin Issues Ominous Warning To Europe As Peace Talks Falter

Vladimir Putin has declared Russia is “ready now” if Europe wants a war, seemingly throwing Donald Trump’s renewed peace talk efforts out the window.

Speaking after an investment forum in Moscow, the Russian president insisted Europe has no interest in a ceasefire and only wants the Ukraine war to continue.

In televised remarks, he also blamed Europe for hindering the White House’s efforts to reach a peace agreement – despite Putin himself being the one who has refused to negotiate on a truce for months.

He also insisted the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk is now fully in the Russian army’s control, although Ukraine says its stronghold is still in place.

Putin said: “We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready now. They are on the side of war.”

He also claimed Europe’s demands for a peace deal for Ukraine were “absolutely unacceptable”.

The stern warning came after a fresh series of drone attacks on Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea, which prompted the Russian authoritarian to threaten to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea completely.

He said: “The most radical solution is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy will be impossible in principle.”

Putin is no stranger to threatening Europe over its ongoing support for Ukraine, and has often insisted that Russia’s military victory is inevitable.

But today’s comments were particularly remarkable because the Russian president is currently hosting US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, in Moscow.

It’s America’s latest attempts to try and encourage Putin to sign up to a new peace plan.

Trump unveiled a 28-point framework meant to end the Ukraine war last month, but European allies feared it was too pro-Russia and so watered down the proposals to a new 19-point plan – Witkoff is now trying to persuade Putin to back.

However, analysts are highly sceptical that the Russian authoritarian would ever accept the new plan.

It rows back on the Kremlin’s maximalist goals for Ukraine, many of which were included in Trump’s initial plan – like demands for Ukraine cede even more territory to its Russian aggressors.

Some specialists told HuffPost UK Witkoff’s visit to Moscow was akin to taking a “lamb to a slaughter”.