Prior to the Dec. 2 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, which included Putin’s top adviser Yury Ushakov, his envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Putin addressed the “Russia Calling! Investment Forum.” During the Q&A session, he was asked about his meeting with Witkoff and the refusal of Europe to negotiate. He stated:
“The Europeans ... are insulted by what they perceive as their exclusion from the negotiations. However, I must note that no one has excluded them. They have excluded themselves.” They “abruptly cut off contact with Russia. That was their initiative. Why did they do this? Because they embraced the concept of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia....” It was an illusion. Now, with no prospects, “they have begun to sabotage the efforts of the current United States administration and President Trump to achieve peace through negotiation. They themselves abandoned peace talks and are now impeding President Trump.”
Further, “they have no peace agenda ... all their amendments are directed towards one single aim: to completely obstruct this entire peace process, to put forward demands that are utterly unacceptable to Russia (they understand this), and thereby subsequently to place the blame for the collapse of the peace process upon Russia. That is their objective. We see this plainly.
“Therefore, if they truly wish to return to reality, based on the situation that has developed “on the ground,” as they say in such cases—let it be, we have no objection.”
Asked about NATO plans for armed conflict and charges that Russia is preparing for war with Europe, he responded: “We are not planning to go to war against Europe. I have said that a hundred times. But if Europe wants to wage a war against us and suddenly starts a war with us, we are ready. There should be no doubt about that. The only question is if Europe suddenly starts a war against us … Europe is not Ukraine. In Ukraine, we are acting with surgical precision. You see my point, don’t you? It is not a war in the direct, modern sense of the word. If Europe suddenly decides to go to war against us … then a situation may arise very quickly where we will be left with no one to negotiate with.”
