&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Russia is winning on battlefield, will not negotiate with 'terrorists': Putin")
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (Sep 3) that Russia was winning the war in Ukraine and portrayed the Ukrainian leadership as "terrorists" with whom Moscow could not negotiate. Putin acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks inside Russia had inflicted real damage and said that drones posed a particular challenge. The Russian president also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's warning to airlines that Ukrainian drones would effectively shut down Russian airspace sounded like "state terrorism" and that Moscow would find a way to respond if it happened.
Speaking at a news conference after a summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin said that it was not possible to negotiate with “terrorists.” He also said that Moscow was open to talks aimed at ending, rather than freezing, the war, and restated its willingness to talk to US President Donald Trump's envoys. "If someone makes, or can make, a tangible contribution to this process, we are all in favour," Putin said. "The only thing we would want to avoid is the process spinning its wheels pointlessly. However, if someone is capable of bringing something positive to these negotiations - which, as we understand it, are currently somewhat frozen - then, generally speaking, we are not opposed." "I have no doubt the enemy will crumble." Rumours that Russia would be forced to order a new military mobilisation were "utter nonsense," he said.
PM Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan. The meeting takes place at a critical time for India as New Delhi seeks to balance its longstanding strategic partnership with Russia, its ties with Iran and its ongoing engagement with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
