If Europe wants to fight a war, Russia Is ready now

Vladimir Putin has stated that if Europe wants to fight a war, then Russia is ready now. His comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected to hear from US negotiators as soon as they finish their meetings in Moscow on a peace deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Speaking after an investment forum in Moscow on Tuesday, December 2, the Russian President claimed that Europeans do not have a peaceful agenda, are on the side of war, and seek demands from the conflict in Ukraine that are not acceptable to Russia.

"We're not planning to go to war with Europe, I've said that a hundred times," he said. "But if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts, we're ready right now. There can be no doubt about that."

He went on to warn: "If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and does, then a situation could very quickly arise in which we have no one to negotiate with."

Putin also accused Europeans of hindering the US administration and Donald Trump in their efforts to reach a peace agreement through talks. He further claimed the city of Pokrovsk is now fully in the Russian army's control, though Ukraine rejected the claim.

Recent attacks on Russian tankers are "piracy," and Russia will expand strikes on Ukrainian ports and ships in response, Putin added.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Dublin alongside Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he was ready to meet US President Donald Trump again, but that it would depend on how successful the Moscow talks were. Trump's negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are holding talks with Putin in Moscow over the US plan for peace.

As he made the first official visit by a Ukrainian president to Ireland, Zelenskyy said the chances of ending the conflict were "better now than ever" but warned there would be "no easy decisions" and there must be "no games behind Ukraine's back."

Calling the present time "one of the most challenging but optimistic moments" since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, he said the US "is taking serious steps to end this war one way or another." He admitted that "some things still need to be worked out" and stressed that what was needed was a "decent, dignified peace."