Putin says from China he had “decorance” with Trump for ending the war in Ukraine

However, he did not say whether he would accept peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, mediated by Trump.

Speaking during a summit in China, Putin continued to defend his decision to invade Ukraine and again blamed the West for the war.

After the meeting in Alaska last month, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin has agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine ʹ as part of a possible future peace agreement, although Moscow has not yet confirmed this.

Putin spoke at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit, where he met with China's leader, Xi Jinping, and India's Narendra Modi.

He thanked them for their support and for, as he said, efforts “to facilitate the resolution of the crisis in Ukraine”.

China and Russia are the biggest buyers of Russian crude oil, so they are also criticised by the West for supporting the Russian economy.

In his speech, Putin also said he hoped that the “balances reached” at his meeting with Trump in Alaska are “walking in this direction, paving the way for peace in Ukraine”.

At the same time, he reiterated his stance that the <x0 crisis was not caused by Russia's attack on Ukraine, but was the result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West”.

He also attributed the war to the ongoing Western “efforts to draw Ukraine to NATO”.

Putin has repeatedly rejected the possibility of Ukraine's NATO membership.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump has given him until Monday to accept peace talks with Zelensky.

“If you refuse, this indicates that Putin has again manipulated Trump”, Macro said.

However, on August 22nd, Trump told CNN he was giving Putin “several weeks” time to respond.

After meeting with Putin last month, Trump called for a permanent peace agreement.

He also met with Ukrainian President Zelensky and senior European leaders, and stressed that part of the agreement would not be the membership of Ukraine in NATO.

He suggested there would be security guarantees for Ukraine and that the US would be involved. / REL/