‘We aren’t planning...BUT if Europe wants war, we’re ready’: Russian President Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Europe on Tuesday (Dec 2) that he was "ready" if a war is needed. He accused the continent's leaders of trying to sabotage a deal on the Ukraine conflict before he met with US envoys. This came as US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were in Moscow for high-stakes talks on ending the nearly four-year war, which were preceded by days of intense diplomacy.

"We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now," the Russian president said. "They have no peaceful agenda, they are on the side of war," he added.

Putin added that European changes to Trump's latest plan to end the war "aimed solely at one thing -- to completely block the entire peace process and put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia".

Meanwhile, top US negotiators vying to end the war in Ukraine met with Putin on Tuesday in a high-stakes meeting happening as Moscow pressed battlefield advances. Putin, who received Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin, signalled earlier that his forces were ready to fight on to achieve Russia's initial war goals.