Vladimir Putin has said that if Europe wants to fight a war, then Russia is ready now.
Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected to hear from US negotiators as soon as they finish their meetings in Moscow on a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Speaking after an investment forum in Moscow, the Russian president said the Europeans do not have a peaceful agenda and are on the side of war, and seeks demands from the war in Ukraine that are not acceptable to Russia.
“We’re not planning to go to war with Europe, I’ve said that a hundred times,” he said.
“But if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts, we’re ready right now. There can be no doubt about that.”
“If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and does, then a situation could very quickly arise in which we have no one to negotiate with,” he added.
Europeans are also hindering the US administration and Donald Trump in their efforts to reach a peace agreement through talks, Mr Putin said.
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He claimed the city of Pokrovsk is now fully in the Russian army’s control, after Moscow’s defence ministry released footage apparently showing Russian soldiers waving flags in the frontline town.
Recent attacks on Russian tankers are “piracy” and Russia will expand strikes on Ukrainian ports and ships in response, Mr Putin added.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin alongside Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Tuesday, Mr Zelenskyy said he was ready to meet US President Donald Trump again but that it would depend on how successful the Moscow talks were.
Mr Trump’s negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are holding talks with Mr Putin in Moscow over the US plan for peace.
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Mr Zelenskyy said Kyiv has formed a 20-point format with the US.
As he became the first Ukrainian president to make an official visit to Ireland, he said the chances of ending the conflict were “better now than ever” but warned there would be “no easy decisions” and there must be “no games behind Ukraine’s back”.
Calling the present time “one of the most challenging but optimistic moments” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he said the US “is taking serious steps to end this war one way or another”.
He admitted that “some things still need to be worked out” and said what was needed was a “decent, dignified peace”.
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The Irish government announced €100m in non-lethal aid for Ukraine to coincide with the visit, “generosity” for which Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was grateful.
It brings the total in non-lethal military aid provided to Ukraine this year to €200m.
The funding is part of a new Ireland-Ukraine partnership to be signed by Mr Zelensky and Mr Martin on Tuesday afternoon, which builds on an agreement signed in Kyiv last year.
The 2030 Roadmap on Ukraine-Ireland Partnership sets out Ireland’s immediate commitments to Ukraine, including €25m to support the restoration and protection of Ukrainian energy infrastructure and a scheme to support training and other efforts as part of Ukraine’s path to EU accession, which Mr Zelenskyy said he hoped to achieve within five years.
Mr Zelenskyy also praised what he called Ireland’s “honest and principled” stance on sanctions imposed on Russia, which he said must remain in place as long as Russian “occupation” and “abuse of our people continues”.
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He said frozen Russian assets should have been used for Ukraine’s defence a long time ago.
Mr Zelenskyy began the Dublin trip with a courtesy call to Ireland’s newly inaugurated president, Catherine Connolly.
