Putin tells G20 Russia has 'never' refused peace talks with Ukraine
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00:00 Vladimir Putin has addressed the G20 today for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine.
00:06 He described the conflict as a "tragedy" and said Moscow has never refused to participate
00:12 in peace talks with Kyiv.
00:17 We must think about how to stop this tragedy.
00:20 Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine.
00:24 It is not Russia but Ukraine that has publicly announced its withdrawing from the negotiation
00:28 process.
00:30 Moreover a decree was signed prohibiting such negotiations with Russia.
00:35 Listening to that with me Douglas Herbert our foreign affairs commentator and Doug I'm
00:39 interested in what you made of Putin's language there.
00:42 He's alluding to peace talks.
00:44 He talks of Ukraine being a tragedy.
00:47 Do you think we can take his word when he talks like that?
00:50 Well Ukraine doesn't.
00:51 This has become a recurrent refrain almost a motif with Vladimir Putin almost since the
00:57 outset of the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine which has been that at any given
01:03 time Russia is always ready to seek peace if only big bad Ukraine and its Western backers
01:10 would do so as well.
01:12 And the response time and again from Kyiv has been the same.
01:16 It simply is not true.
01:18 They say that the terms upon which when Putin refers to peace talks the peace talks that
01:23 he has in mind his vision and his version of peace talks have no bearing on the reality
01:28 of any type of peace talks Ukraine could ever in a million years envision entering.
01:34 What Zelensky has been very clear about is if you want real peace talks he's laid out
01:38 his conditions.
01:39 He laid out a ten point peace plan back in November 2022 already almost a year into the
01:44 into the war.
01:45 And he basically said Ukraine needs to regain sovereignty over the lands that were invaded.
01:52 There needs to be prosecution for war crimes for those responsible for war crimes and that
01:59 there should be a compensation to Ukraine for the destruction the devastation the damage
02:03 caused by Russia's invasion.
02:05 Those are just three of the main points but all about sovereignty regaining sovereignty
02:08 and territory for Ukraine.
02:11 And Zelensky it's been very clear the answer to this question when Putin says we're ready
02:16 for peace talks.
02:17 Zelensky's always said and he's been very consistent.
02:19 You want peace talks.
02:20 Great.
02:21 Here's the condition.
02:23 Return our sovereignty.
02:24 Return our territory and then we will can start and sit down and have serious peace
02:28 talks.
02:29 As it is there's no trust.
02:30 They don't trust Putin as far as they can throw him.
02:32 As the foreign minister former foreign Dmitry Kuleba had said Putin and this was his quote
02:37 Putin is a habitual liar who promised international leaders just days before the Russian invasion
02:43 of Ukraine in February 2022 that he would not attack Ukraine.
02:48 And Russia even had mock mock alarm over the Western alarm.
02:53 Mock the West for its alarm that there might be an invasion coming days before the invasion
02:57 happened.
02:58 Russia denied it up until the day of.
03:01 And the timing of this is arguably interesting as well Doug isn't it.
03:04 Explain to us a bit about why.
03:06 Well Putin's nothing if not he's very shrewd.
03:08 He's very savvy political calculator.
03:09 He knows how to sort of feel the political winds and seize the moment so to speak in
03:14 a cynical way I would perhaps posit.
03:18 Why because right now the moment is clearly the time where Putin senses and he said this
03:22 explicitly he and his spokespeople that there is war fatigue that's going to spread in the
03:27 West.
03:28 It's already as they see it setting in Europe's losing interest in Ukraine as Russia sees
03:33 it.
03:34 It's just a matter of time and the counteroffensive the Ukraine counteroffensive is slow going
03:38 plotting nothing much happening from Russia's view on the ground.
03:42 Putin has a little bit of strut in his step.
03:43 He sees himself now he could put himself out there internationally and he has the global
03:47 South behind him as the peacemaker and cast Ukraine in the role of the villain that doesn't
03:53 want to talk peace.
03:54 Ukraine just wants to perpetuate war.
03:56 All right Douglas Herbert as always thanks for your analysis.