Russian President Vladimir Putin says he does not want a military conflict with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over Syria and elsewhere, but is prepared for all scenarios.
Reuters and Russia’s Sputnik-Tass news agency reported that Putin made the comments about the possibility of direct conflict between Russia and NATO during a press conference after the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg on Monday.
“We are always ready for any scenario. “We are always ready for any scenario, but no one wants this,” he said, adding, “We once established a mechanism to prevent such a conflict at the initiative of the United States. The heads of the relevant departments communicate directly and have the opportunity to discuss any crisis situation.”
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, he said there have been no significant changes or operational intensification on the front in the last two days.
Earlier, major Western media outlets reported that Ukraine was stepping up its offensive on the front lines with additional troops after nearly two months of no significant progress in its fightback to regain territory lost to Russia.
President Putin praised a peace mediation proposal put forward by African countries for the war in Ukraine, saying it “could be the basis for a process to find peace, 카지노사이트킴 just like China’s plan and others,” and argued that some of its provisions, such as prisoner exchanges and humanitarian issues, are already being implemented.
However, a ceasefire would be difficult to achieve while Ukrainian forces remain on the offensive, he said, adding that Russia is not rejecting talks with Ukraine.