The Russian dictator Putin claims that he allegedly offered Ukraine to "withdraw troops" from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions back in late February 2022. TSN reports. This was reported by Kontrakty.UA.
The dictator made this statement in an interview with Russian propaganda so-called media.
Putin asserts that negotiations with Ukraine began immediately after the onset of the full-scale invasion.
"Initially, we told the then Ukrainian leadership that the people in the (so-called - Ed.) "LPR" and "DPR" (obviously referring to the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Kyiv - Ed.) do not want to be part of Ukraine. Leave there, and that will be the end of it, no fighting, no war. No, 'we will fight,'” the dictator cynically declared.
Putin claims that at the end of February 2022, Kyiv agreed to negotiations, which initially took place in Belarus and later in Istanbul. The dictator assures that in the spring of 2022 he was ready for a personal meeting with President Zelensky.
"There was only one moment that the Ukrainian side proposed to consider and put an end to – at a personal meeting of the two presidents. I agreed to that as well," he said.
Putin also imagined that the so-called "Istanbul agreements" project was based on proposals from the Ukrainian side.
How the dictator explains Russia's withdrawal from Kyiv
Putin cynically stated that Russia withdrew its troops from Kyiv "to prevent serious bloodshed."
"For us, it was generally clear that deception was entirely possible – this is how Russia has been deceived for decades: they said one thing and did something completely different. However, considering the prevention of serious bloodshed, some serious war, we agreed to this," the dictator lies.
Interestingly, were the subsequent military actions in 2022 in Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, or Bakhmut, or further actions on the front line, up to this time, any less bloody?
Additionally, Putin stated that he "once sent signals to Biden" about his readiness for dialogue. For this, Putin demands that Ukraine revoke the decree prohibiting negotiations with him personally.
The Ukrainian side has not yet commented on these statements from the dictator.
Earlier, it was reported that dictator Putin fabricated a new reason, why Russia cannot initiate peace talks with Ukraine.