Kremlin chief Putin emphasizes the desire for international cooperation. He also signaled a willingness to talk about arms control. The Russian President, on the other hand, describes the Western sanctions against his country as illegal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to a dialogue on arms control and restrictions on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, this would require "careful joint work" and must aim to prevent a repetition of "what is happening in Donbass today," Putin said in a video appearance at a legal forum in St. Petersburg.
Putin accused Ukraine of committing a "crime against humanity" with regard to the population in the Donbass industrial area. He had previously accused Kyiv of "genocide" against Russian-speaking people - without any evidence. Moscow also justifies the war against the neighboring country with an alleged "liberation" of Ukraine from "neo-Nazis".
In his appearance, Putin criticized the Western sanctions against Russia as a reaction to the war of aggression against Ukraine as illegal punitive measures without precedent. "The dominance of one country or group of countries on the world stage is not only counterproductive, but also dangerous and inevitably leads to major systemic risks," said the Kremlin chief. In the 21st century there should be no place for inequality, discrimination against states and peoples. The West calls the Russian invasion a breach of international law.
At the same time, the Kremlin chief emphasized the desire for international cooperation. International efforts to combat climate change and combat hunger should be pooled, said Putin. Moscow attaches great importance to cooperation, for example with the United Nations or within the framework of the G20 of the most important industrialized and emerging countries.
