During the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on Sep. 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about the prospect of peace talks with Ukraine to bring the war to a close. President Putin responded that, yes, “this issue should be dealt with by the countries involved in the conflict, Russia and Ukraine. This is the right approach…. Is there a chance? I believe that we do have a chance of finding a solution.”
Putin continued: “The hijacking of civilian ships, the attacks on civilian merchant vessels that you brought up—and, more importantly, the threats to attack civilian aircraft that we have now heard about—all of this is, of course, a manifestation of state terrorism, and it undoubtedly complicates the prospects for bilateral peace talks.” The last remark was a reference to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s Sep. 1 threat to begin attacking civilian aircraft in Russian airspace.
“Incidentally, those who remain silent, those who ignore this—meaning primarily Ukraine’s Western allies—are becoming accomplices to international terrorism. Well, how could it be otherwise? It cannot be interpreted in any other way,” Putin added.
