Putin - at the ceremony of presenting credentials to foreign ambassadors on the negotiations on Ukraine:

Putin - at the ceremony of presenting credentials to foreign ambassadors on the negotiations on Ukraine: As for Ukraine. We certainly appreciate the sincere desire of our BRICS partners to promote a peaceful settlement of the current situation. I have repeatedly said that Russia is not only ready to negotiate, but at a certain stage at the very beginning of this conflict it was conducting these negotiations. And even a mutually acceptable agreement was worked out and initialed on the Ukrainian side. However, the Ukrainian side rejected this agreement on the advice of the outside - and this was stated by Ukrainian officials. The essentially hostile course taken by a number of Western States to escalate and prolong the Ukrainian conflict, I mean to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, is deeply mistaken. Such illusory calculations can only be made by those who do not know and do not want to know the history of Russia and do not take into account the unity, strength of spirit and... Source: Slavyangrad