Putin: Russia not preparing for war with Europe, SVO goals to be achieved

In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, Vladimir Putin said Russia was not preparing for war with Europe and called talk of a “Russian threat” political schizophrenia. According to Putin, the lands lost by Kyiv are historically Russian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin that Russia was not preparing for war with Europe. “I want them to hear us: we do not want, and we are not preparing for, any kind of war with Europe,” he said. Excerpts from the interview were published on October 22.

According to Putin, constant talk of a threat from Russia and preparations to begin a war with it amounted to “some kind of political schizophrenia.” He said an anti-Russian campaign was being waged in the West, particularly in European countries, but argued that “the peoples of Europe do not want to fight Russia.”

Владимир Путин (архив)

“This is historically Russian territory”

Speaking about the territories lost by Kyiv, Putin said: “First of all, my view of this matter is that this is not their territory. This is historically Russian territory.” He also stressed that Russia would fulfill its tasks and that all the goals of the special military operation would be achieved.

Readiness for trilateral contacts

Putin confirmed his readiness to resume trilateral contacts with the United States and Ukraine. According to him, the discussions should focus on a final settlement, “rather than a result of suspending hostilities for some short period of time.” “We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal,” the president said, adding that the architecture of European security would also have to be discussed in that case.

On October 21, Putin met with U.S. President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg. According to presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the resumption of trilateral talks is being discussed for the second week of November.

Putin: Russia not preparing for war with Europe, SVO goals to be achieved