——– US, Russia agree to Russia-Ukraine energy infrastructure ceasefire
——– Further negotiations to begin ‘immediately,’ says White House
DM Monitoring
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday the West would try to undermine Russia regardless of whether it lifted sanctions, telling business leaders in Moscow they should look elsewhere to invest.
Delivering a broadly anti-Western speech ahead of a crunch phone call with US counterpart Donald Trump, Putin said the G7 group was too small to see “on a map” and that Western dominance was “slipping away”.
Western countries introduced sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to its full-scale military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, restrictions that the Kremlin has called an “illegal” attempt to destroy its economy.
“Even if there is a gesture from the other side, like they suggest lifting or easing something, you can expect they will find another way of pressing down, to throw a spanner in the works,” Putin told business leaders at an event in Moscow.
Ukraine says it destroys 63 out of 137 Russian-launched drones overnight
“You should invest where it is profitable for you and Russia, where profits are high and investments are reliably protected. There are many such regions of the world,” the Russian leader said.
Dozens of Western companies pulled out of Russia in the wake of its conflict in Ukraine, while some of those that remained were seized by the Russian government.
While the Russian economy has overcome the initial shock of sanctions and found domestic alternatives to most Western brands, it wants the West to lift them as part of any Ukraine peace deal.
The Trump administration has declined to say whether it will ease sanctions on Moscow, saying only that both sides will need to make “concessions” for peace.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to a proposal by US President Donald Trump that Russia and Ukraine cease attacking each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days, the Kremlin said fol-lowing a lengthy phone discussion between the leaders.
The two countries plan to begin negotiations “immediately” in the Middle East on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, according to a readout from the White House. “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure cease-fire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the White House readout said.
Trump had been pressuring Putin to agree to a US-backed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has already accepted as part of a move toward a permanent peace deal to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two. The war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and reduced entire towns to rubble.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said last week he supported in principle Wash-ington’s proposal for a truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
