Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that the government of his American counterpart Donald Trump is listening to the Kremlin's arguments for the invasion of neighboring Ukraine, and noted that Moscow and Washington have reached "mutual understanding" on the issue of the conflict, the Associated Press reported, BTA reported.
"The (Trump) administration is listening to us", said Putin, who is on a visit to China, while at the same time expressing regret that former US President Joe Biden did not pay attention to Moscow's motives.
"Now we see a mutual understanding, it is noticeable", the Russian president said during his bilateral meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, which followed his talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.
"We are very happy about this and we hope that our constructive dialogue (with the US) will continue," he added.
At the same time, Russia is threatened with possible sanctions by Trump, who said he was puzzled by Putin's lack of empathy for US-sponsored efforts to end the war in Ukraine and threatened "harsh consequences", which he did not specify, the AP notes. The American president has identified achieving peace in the more than three-year-old war as one of his diplomatic priorities and hosted Putin for a meeting in Alaska on August 15.
On the key issue of post-war security guarantees for Ukraine to deter a new Russian invasion, Putin said: "From my point of view, there is a possibility of reaching a consensus."
The Russian president confirmed Moscow's position that it would not accept NATO membership for Ukraine, while noting that he had never been against Ukraine joining the EU.
He added that Russia "can work with its American partners" on the Zaporozhye NPP - the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and one of the 10 largest in the world. The fate of the facility has been a major concern during the current war due to fears of a nuclear accident, the AP notes.
According to Putin, Moscow could work on the Zaporizhzhia NPP issue with Ukraine as well - "if favorable conditions arise" for this.
Fico, in turn, confirmed that he plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.