Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday his relationship with the United States after the presidential elections would depend on what attitude Washington adopts, as he welcomed comments by Donald Trump on his desire to end the Ukraine conflict as “sincere”.
But the Kremlin leader struck a hardline tone, warning the West it was an “illusion” to think Russia could be defeated on the battlefield and that any peace deal would have to recognise Russia’s control of swathes of Ukrainian territory.
Putin was speaking at the end of the BRICS summit in the city of Kazan, where he had faced calls from some of Russia’s most important allies for the fighting in Ukraine to end.
“How Russian-American relations will develop after the election will depend on the United States. If they are open, then we will also be open. And if they don’t want it, then fine,” Putin told reporters in Kazan.
Relations between the two superpowers have sunk to their lowest since the Cold War amid Moscow’s military offensive on Ukraine.
Next month’s US election is set to be critical in the course of future ties and the conflict in Ukraine.
Trump has repeatedly expressed scepticism over Washington’s multi-billion dollar aid to Ukraine and claimed that if elected he could end the fighting in a matter of hours.
Putin said Trump “spoke about his desire to do everything to end the conflict in Ukraine. I think he is being sincere. Of course we welcome statements like this, whoever they come from.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among around 20 leaders that gathered for the BRICS summit, the largest diplomatic event in Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
