Putin says Russia doesn’t oppose Ukraine joining the EU

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (Sep 2) that Moscow had never opposed Ukraine’s potential membership of the European Union, and that he thought it was possible to find a consensus on ensuring the security of both Russia and Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said after his summit with Putin in Alaska last month that he thinks Putin is “tired” of the war in Ukraine but that it remains to be seen if peace can be secured to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Ukraine and the leaders of Western European powers have said they do not believe Putin is serious about peace in Ukraine, and have warned that if Russia wins the Ukraine war then Putin could attack Europe and the US-led NATO military alliance.

In some of his most dovish remarks since the Alaska summit, Putin, speaking in China, pushed back against those claims, which he cast as “horror stories” and “hysteria” pumped up by incompetent people seeking to cast Russia as an enemy.

Putin said Russia had been forced to act in Ukraine by what he cast as the West’s attempt with the help of NATO to try to absorb the entire post-Soviet space.

“As for Ukraine’s membership of the EU, we have never objected to this,” Putin told Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico at talks in China. “As for NATO, this is another issue… Our position here is well known: we consider this unacceptable for ourselves.”