President Putin said he does not want war and would rely on negotiations in his efforts to eliminate any chance that Ukraine could one day join NATO.
Amid war cries, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow does not want a war in Europe while demanded that the issue of Kyiv's relationship with NATO be resolved in its entirety immediately. President Putin said Tuesday that he welcomed a security dialogue with the West, and his military reported pulling back some of its troops near Ukraine.
Putin said he does not want war and would rely on negotiations in his efforts to eliminate any chance that Ukraine could one day join NATO. At the same time, he did not commit to a full pullback of troops, saying Russia's next moves in the standoff will depend on how the situation evolves.
"Do we want this or not? Of course, not. That is exactly why we put forward proposals for a process of negotiations," Putin told a press conference following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow.
While Putin's assurance did sooth global markets, the United States and its European allies remained cautious, saying they want to see evidence of a Russian pullback. American President Joe Biden said that the United States had not verified Russia's claim and that an invasion was still a distinct possibility.
President Biden said 150,000 Russian forces are now massed near Ukraine and in Belarus. This is actually more than an earlier US estimate of 130,000 troops. Putin said the US and NATO rejected Moscow's demand to keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations out of NATO, halt weapons deployments near Russian borders and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, over 20 ships from Russia's Northern fleet have started drills in the Barents Sea, an international news agency cited the fleet as saying on Tuesday. The exercises in the Arctic waters between Russia and Norway are part of broader drills which have prompted fears that Moscow may invade Ukraine. Russia denies such plans.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Putin says ready to discuss Ukraine with US and NATO")
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}