Putin ties talks with Kyiv to elections, blames Ukraine for strikes
Putin says Russia was ready to resume negotiations after Ukraine's elections, but accuses Kyiv of striking Moscow and attacking polling stations, TASS reports
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Vladimir Putin says Russia stood ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine once its elections had passed, but that Kyiv instead attempted to strike Moscow and attacked polling stations, according to TASS.
The remarks come as diplomatic activity between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv continues on a separate track. US and Russian envoys are meeting in Washington over a possible halt to strikes on energy sites. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russia's Kirill Dmitriev this week, following Dmitriev's Wednesday talks in Washington and a session between Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov in New York.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine struck two refineries inside Russia overnight, as Emmanuel Macron pushes for a mutual halt to attacks on energy infrastructure. The Kremlin, meanwhile, says sanctions must be lifted before it will end its diesel export ban.
Putin's framing casts talks as conditional on Ukrainian restraint, at odds with the diplomatic movement visible in the US-Russia contacts and European proposals for a mutual halt to strikes. It also positions Russia as the aggrieved party rather than acknowledging its own role in the escalation. That shift makes a near-term settlement look less likely even as envoys continue shuttling between capitals, leaving the risk skewed against assets that depend on a ceasefire.