International Desk, June 18 (EFE).-The informative meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and heads of major international news agencies, including EFE, began on Wednesday in Saint Petersburg as part of the 28th edition of the International Economic Forum hosted by Russia’s second-largest city.
Putin, who has rarely granted interviews to international media since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, typically uses these meetings to review national and international current affairs.
Global attention is currently focused on the conflict between Iran, an ally of the Kremlin, and Israel, whose attacks on the Islamic Republic have been condemned by Moscow.
Additionally, the war in Ukraine continues. The first two rounds of negotiations between Russians and Ukrainians have only produced prisoner exchange agreements, not the ceasefire demanded by the United States and the West.
Call for a cessation of hostilities between Iran and Israel
Regarding Iran, Putin stated that they have not requested military aid from Russia against Israel, despite their strategic partnership agreement and the presence of Russian specialists at the Bushehr nuclear plant.
“We are not imposing anything on anyone. We are simply suggesting a possible way out of the situation,” he said, adding that the decision should be made by the governments of the countries involved, “especially Iran and Israel.”
Putin stressed that the agreement with Iran does not include defense, unlike the one signed with North Korea.
Furthermore, he avoided speculating on a possible assassination of Ali Hosseini Khamenei by Israel or the US and urged a solution that guarantees Iran’s civilian nuclear program and Israel’s security.
On Ukraine, Putin expressed willingness to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy only at the final stage of peace negotiations, although he questioned Zelenskyy’s legitimacy. Putin had rejected a previous meeting with Zelenskyy due to the absence of Donald Trump.
He recalled that in 2022 Russia was willing to allow Ukraine to retain control of the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for building a land corridor to the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Now, however, he stressed that these two regions and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are all an inalienable part of the territory of the Russian Federation.
And added that Moscow will not allow Ukraine to have an army that threatens the security of its territory under any circumstances.
“We want to end this (conflict) as soon as possible, too. It would be better if it were to end peacefully,” Putin said.
Putin also dismissed as “nonsense” the idea that Russia plans to attack a NATO country, arguing that NATO’s military budget is far superior and that the Atlantic Alliance’s rearmament is irrational and senseless.
He attributed these accusations to an attempt by Western elites to magnify the Russian threat.
“We all understand that this is nonsense. NATO’s military budget is 1.3 trillion dollars, more than the rest of the world combined, including Russia,” the Russian head of state said.
Meeting attendees included heads of news agencies from the US, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Turkey, and China, among others.
The Russian leader’s interviews with heads of international news agencies were temporarily interrupted in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, as of 2021, a meeting was held virtually. The meetings did not take place in 2022 and 2023, the first two years of the war in Ukraine, and only resumed in 2024.EFE
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