MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he hoped peace talks between Russia and Ukraine would continue and that working groups could discuss potential compromises, but
Putin Maintains Russia's Position on Ukraine Amid Trump Sanctions Deadline
Russia's Position on Ukraine and Peace Talks
By Dmitry Antonov
Putin's Comments on Peace Negotiations
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in its favour, signalling no shift in his stance despite a looming sanctions deadline from Washington.
Military Actions and Responses
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will impose new sanctions on Moscow and countries that buy its energy exports - of which the biggest are China and India - unless Russia moves by August 8 to end the 3-1/2 year war.
International Reactions and Sanctions
He has expressed mounting frustration with Putin, accusing him of "bullshit" and describing Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine as "disgusting".
Putin, without referring to the Trump deadline, said three sessions of peace talks with Ukraine had yielded some positive results, and Russia was expecting negotiations to continue.
"As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations. This is a well-known general rule," he said.
"But in order to approach the issue peacefully, it is necessary to conduct detailed conversations. And not in public, but this must be done calmly, in the quiet of the negotiation process."
He said Russian troops were attacking Ukraine along the entire front line and that the momentum was in their favour, citing the announcement by his Defence Ministry on Thursday that Moscow's forces had captured the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar after a 16-month battle.
Ukraine denied Chasiv Yar is under full Russian control.
Ukraine for months has been urging an immediate ceasefire but Russia says it wants a final and durable settlement, not a pause. Since the peace talks began in Istanbul in May, it has conducted some of its heaviest air strikes of the war, especially on the capital Kyiv.
Ukraine and its European allies have frequently said they do not believe Putin is really interested in peace and have accused him of stalling, which the Kremlin denies.
"I will repeat once again, we need a long and lasting peace on good foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and ensure the security of both countries," Putin said, adding that this was also a question of European security.
Putin was speaking alongside his ally Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, at talks on an island in Lake Ladoga that is the site of a famous Russian monastery.
Russian TV earlier showed the two men greeting monks at the Valaam Monastery, where they have met several times before, and holding candles during the chanting of prayers.
(Additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Marina Bobrova; Writing by Mark TrevelyanEditing by Andrew Osborn and Philippa Fletcher)
