Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on Thursday (Jul 4) that he believed Donald Trump was sincere about wanting to end the war in Ukraine. Putin further added that he doesn’t know how the presumptive Republican presidential nominee planned to do so if elected this year.
While speaking at a news conference in Kazakhstan at the end of a regional security conference, Putin was asked about Trump’s statements that he could end the Ukraine war. Russia refers to the war on Ukraine as a “special military operation”.
Putin commented, “The fact that Mr Trump, as a presidential candidate, declares that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take this completely seriously.”
“I am not, of course, familiar with possible proposals for how he plans to do this. This is the key question. But I have no doubt that he means it sincerely, and we support it (the idea of ending the war),” the Russian president added.
During a debate with President Joe Biden last week, Trump had said that if elected, he would have the conflict “settled” before he took office in January 2025.
This is not the first time as Putin has previously claimed to be open to talks on ending the conflict. However, last month he demanded Ukraine effectively capitulate as a precondition of a ceasefire.
The head of the Kremlin had said that if Ukraine wanted Russia’s offensive to stop, its soldiers must leave the country’s east and south and give up any area they now control. Putin’s comments Russian troops have made modest advances on the battlefield this year after a Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023 was largely unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Putin said that the Taliban, which is a banned group in Russia, are Moscow’s “allies” in fighting terrorism because they are in control of Afghanistan.
Although the Taliban has been outlawed in Russia since 2003, Moscow has long supported ties with them, and Putin recently demanded that Moscow “build up” ties with the Taliban regime.
Putin said in Astana, “We must assume that the Taliban control the power in the country. And in this sense, the Taliban are, of course, our allies in the fight against terrorism, because any authorities are interested in stability in the state they govern.”
Putin said that the Taliban have “taken on some responsibilities” but that there are still “issues that need constant attention inside the country and from the international community”.
“I am sure that the Taliban are interested in everything being stable in Afghanistan,” he added.
