PNN – Referring to the letter of US President Joe Biden about the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: I answered him that if the “collective West” stopped supplying Ukraine with weapons, the conflict could stop within two or three months.
According to Pakistan News Network’s report from TASS news agency, the President of Russia made these remarks on Wednesday evening in a meeting with heads of a group of news agencies around the world on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
In other parts of this meeting, other questions were raised by other international media managers.
In response to a question about the solution to stop the war in Ukraine, the President of Russia said: I can tell you what I once told Mr. [Joe] Biden; He once sent me a letter and I replied to him in writing: If you want to stop the war in Ukraine, stop supplying weapons there and the conflict will stop in two or three months at the most.
In his speech, Putin did not mention when these letters were exchanged between him and Biden.
Following Putin’s words, the Kremlin spokesman announced that he would not disclose the details of the exchange of letters between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, the presidents of Russia and the United States, regarding the Ukraine conflict.
Asked whether there are plans to make these messages public, Peskov said: We will never conduct public correspondence at the level of heads of state.
If Zelensky’s powers are transferred to the parliament, an agreement can be reached
In the continuation of this meeting, the President of Russia, referring to the end of the legal powers of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said: According to Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the extension of his authority in this responsibility is considered as usurpation of power.
He continued: The current leadership of Ukraine has decided not to hold presidential elections. However, Article 103 of the Constitution of Ukraine states that the president is elected for only five years.
Putin reminded: According to the laws of Ukraine, in the conditions of military rule, the term of parliament is extended, but nothing has been said about the possibility of extending the term of the president.
He added: In Ukraine, there is a law that explains the state of martial law. It says that powers will be transferred to the parliament and presidential elections will not be held under military rule.
The President of Russia said: However, all issues can be resolved, if the powers of the President of Ukraine are transferred to the Speaker of the Parliament, we can reach an agreement with this country. Of course, with whom we will agree is another question.
According to the Russian news agency Ryanovsi, the presidential election of Ukraine was supposed to be held on March 31, 2024, but it was canceled due to the military rule and public mobilization in Ukraine. Zelensky announced that now is “not the right time” to hold elections.
Accordingly, after that, Mykola Azarov, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, said: Zelensky’s powers will end on May 21.
According to this report, Zelensky was elected as the head of government in the spring of 2019. Ukraine has been under military rule since February 2022 (the beginning of special military operations).
Trump’s accusation of spying for Russia is baseless
In another part of the interview with the managers of some world media, the President of Russia said: The accusation against the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, of spying for Russia is completely nonsense and baseless.
Putin noted that the accusations against Trump are part of the internal political struggle between Democrats and Republicans in the United States of America.
The countries of the Middle East must contribute to the solution of the Palestinian issue
In the continuation of this meeting, in response to a question about the prospect of resolving the Middle East conflict, the President of Russia said: I think that the countries of the region, the Organizations of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League should play a decisive role in solving the Palestinian issue.
He stated that we do not believe in extreme positions in this field and said: We must find a middle way and I repeat again: I think this matter should be done by taking into account the atmosphere of the American and Israeli society and, accordingly, by taking into account the considerations of the Islamic and Arab world.
The President of Russia explained: If we work together and reach an agreement, this will be the right scenario; If we weren’t engaged in mutual vetoing, but were trying to reach an agreement based on our interest in solving the problem, this process would probably lead to a solution.
The North-South Corridor can become a popular thoroughfare
In response to another question in this meeting, Putin reminded: Sending cargo on the North-South Corridor will reduce the transportation time from St. Petersburg to the Persian Gulf countries by 10 days.
The President of Russia said: the total volume of trade is between 4.5 and 4.6 billion dollars and its growth rate is good.
Putin noted that one of the important areas of joint work between the two countries is logistics, and in this area, a lot of work needs to be done – this applies not only to the North-South corridor, but also to other routes.
He considered the construction of logistics centers for transporting goods, including on the common border in Dagestan, Russia, in this direction.