However, according to the White House, Putin has in no way shown that he is willing to negotiate an end to the war. “On the contrary,” said spokesman John Kirby during a briefing with the American media. “Everything Putin does on the ground and in the air testifies to a man who wants to continue to inflict violence on the Ukrainian people and escalate the war.”
Kirby also said that Biden is open to talks with Putin, but only if the Russian leader “starts taking the negotiations seriously” and only after consulting with Ukraine and American allies.
Russia has repeatedly said it is open to negotiations. “I have often said: the intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses,” Putin said. “All armed conflicts end in one way or another with negotiations. Sooner or later, all parties sit down and make a deal. The sooner the better.’
However, neither Ukraine nor its allies take these statements seriously. There is a suspicion that Putin wants to buy time. In turn, the Russian leader claims that Ukraine refuses to talk. Kiev says it will not speak until Russia stops attacking Ukrainian cities and utilities.
“Russia will destroy the patriots”
When asked about deploying the US Patriot anti-aircraft system to protect Ukraine, Putin said Russia would find a way to counter it. The system would also be “pretty old” and not work as well as the Russian S300 system. “An antidote will always be found, Russia will destroy the patriots.”
Putin also said that the maximum price imposed on Russian oil by Western countries will not hurt the Russian economy. Also, he said that next week he will sign a decree in response to Russia’s sanctions.