Putin Says He’s Ready For Peace Talks With Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan he was open to dialogue with Ukraine if Kyiv accepts territories occupied by Moscow as Russian, the Kremlin said Thursday.

“Putin again confirmed Russia’s openness to serious dialogue on the condition of Kyiv authorities fulfilling the well-known and repeatedly voiced requirements of taking into account the new territorial realities,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Erdogan had called for peace talks in the phone call with Putin, his office said earlier.

Russian troops occupy large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

The Kremlin claims it has annexed the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions despite not controlling them in their entirety.

“The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets,” the statement added.

The leaders also discussed the implementation of a landmark grain deal, brokered by the UN with the help of Turkey, to unblock Ukrainian grain.

The Kremlin said the pair discussed “the unblocking of food and fertiliser supplies from Russia” and the need for “the removal of all barriers to Russian exports.”

Russia briefly exited the deal in October after a drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet. It re-entered the deal within days but officials have complained of restrictions on Russian products.

Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February last year.