Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has once again repeated the thesis that long-term peace in Ukraine is allegedly impossible without "resolving the issue of NATO's expansion to the east."
He made the statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, Sky News . According to Putin, the West was trying to "pull Ukraine into its orbit," while Kyiv was seeking membership in the alliance, "led by the United States."
"In order for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, it is necessary to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, which I just mentioned, and which I have repeatedly mentioned before," the Kremlin head said.
His speech came after meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump expressed doubts about a quick meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of trilateral talks with his participation.
Bloomberg analyst Max Hastings notes that Trump is more concerned with the idea of winning the Nobel Peace Prize than with finding real leverage to stop Russian aggression. According to the expert, it is Trump's trust in Putin's words that is creating disagreements between the United States and its European allies.
