Putin: Ready to negotiate over Ukraine, and this is the fate of the “Patriot” if it reaches Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today, Sunday, that his country is ready to negotiate with all parties to the Ukrainian conflict. “I think we are moving in the right direction, we are defending our national interests and the interests of our citizens and our people, and we have no other choice but to protect our citizens,” he added in an interview with state television.

He continued, “We are ready to negotiate with all concerned parties about acceptable solutions, but it is up to them we are not the ones who refuse to negotiate, but they are the ones who reject it.”

Putin added that the Kyiv authorities provoked the conflict by carrying out “harsh” military actions against civilians, forcing his country to defend them.

He also emphasized that Moscow’s only goal was to unite the Russian people. He pointed out that the policy of Russia’s opponents is based on the principle of “divide and rule.”

Putin said that Russia would be able to destroy the Patriot air defense systems if Washington handed them over to Kiev, days after Washington announced its agreement to provide its ally Kyiv with these advanced systems to reduce the threat of Russian aviation and the “penetrating” missiles that Moscow is proud of.

This is not the first time that the Russian president has talked about the possibility of negotiating a solution to the 10-month-old conflict in Ukraine, but Kyiv insists that it will accept negotiations and end the fighting only when Russian forces withdraw from what it describes as “occupied areas”.