MOSCOW: The heads of Reuters, AFP, AP and DPA are present at Putin's meeting with foreign media. What can put an end to the Ukrainian conflict? How will Russia react if Germany supplies Kyiv with long-range weapons? And also the Middle East, Iran's nuclear program. The most pressing issues that concern the whole world. Vladimir Putin held a traditional meeting with the heads of the leading international agencies. The conversation ended late at night, was extremely frank and direct. They talked a lot about Russia's relations with the West and friendly countries. Dmitry Kochetkov collected the main statements.
After the meeting with the Russian leader, foreign journalists shared their impressions and emotions with our film crew.
José Manuel Sanz Mingote, Director of International Relations, EFE/Spain: "As journalists from international media, we are very grateful for this opportunity to speak directly to the President, one of the main world leaders right now. It is a real opportunity to learn the reasons behind the policies."
Martin Romanczyk, Head of News, Deutsche Press-Agentur/Germany: "It was interesting to hear your President, what he thinks about conflicts around the world, what he thinks about solutions. It was as interesting as last year."
Serdar Karagöz, First Deputy Director General, Anadolu News Agency/Turkey: "The President was very honest, he spoke openly, clearly. It was a fantastic meeting, he talked about everything: Iran, Ukraine, the Ukrainian peace talks. He also thanked Turkey and President Erdogan for promoting peace, it was a good interview."
And today this interview is on the front pages of world publications. The conversation mainly concerns military conflicts: Ukraine and the Middle East.
CCTV: "The Russian President stressed that he is ready for negotiations with any parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A meeting with the Ukrainian leadership "could take place at the final stage of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations" in order to "put an end" to this process. He called on the Ukrainian side not to delay."
The Washington Post: "Russia has maintained a balance in the Middle East for decades, trying to maintain warm relations with Israel while developing strong economic and military ties with Iran. Such a policy could allow Moscow to play the role of an influential mediator."
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"There is a way out of the current situation." Putin answered the main question of the week
The Russian President met with the heads and representatives of leading news agencies from around the world. For about two hours, he answered current questions, primarily concerning international politics. What they talked about — in the RIA Novosti article.
About friends and grandchildren
They did not change tradition: on the eve of the plenary session of the SPIEF, the head of state spoke with the media. As in previous years, they gathered quite late — closer to midnight.
There were representatives of the CIS media, the Middle and Far East, Europe and even Australia. From Western news agencies — the management of Reuters, German DPA, Spanish EFE, French AFP and others. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov called their presence entirely justified.
"Analysis shows that for the most part, when it comes to direct communication with the president, they do not distort it (Putin's point of view. - Ed.)," he explained.
As expected, the president spoke about Russia's relations with individual countries. There are many joint projects with Vietnam, including energy projects. And all plans are "absolutely realistic and feasible."
Russia will continue to develop traditional areas of cooperation with Indonesia. There are also new areas. By the way, on Thursday Putin will discuss all this with President Prabowo Subianta, who will take part in the SPIEF.
Close cooperation with Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev understands the importance of cooperation with Russia, Moscow values this and responds in kind, the head of state emphasized.
There are many different projects with Uzbekistan, including in the nuclear sphere.
Answering a question about China, Putin noted that interest in the Chinese language is growing in Russia. And he gave a personal example: "When I was talking about some of my close people, relatives studying Chinese, I mentioned my granddaughter, who speaks Chinese fluently with a teacher from Beijing."
"But my daughter, back in the early 2000s, before all these significant and well-known events, began to study Chinese on her own initiative - simply because she wanted to. She took a teacher and studied," he added.
"We are not imposing it on anyone"
Naturally, they touched on the main topic of the week - the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The President emphasized that the issue is complex. On the one hand, Iran wants to develop peaceful nuclear energy, on the other - Israel fears for its security.
"It seems to me that it would be right for everyone to look for ways to stop the hostilities and find ways for all parties to this conflict to reach an agreement with each other - in order to ensure both the interests of Iran, on the one hand, for its nuclear activities, including peaceful nuclear activities, of course - I mean both peaceful nuclear energy and peaceful nuclear energy in other areas - and to ensure the interests of Israel from the point of view of the unconditional security of the Jewish state," Putin said.
And he added: the main thing is that such options exist. Moscow has outlined them to all parties to the conflict, as well as to Washington. The president did not specify what exactly. By the way, he was the only head of state who, on the very first day of hostilities, June 13, called both the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Iran.
"We are not imposing anything on anyone, we are simply talking about how we see a possible way out of the situation. But the decision, of course, is up to the political leadership of these countries - primarily Iran and Israel," Putin noted.
Ready to meet with him
The Ukrainian topic was also discussed. The President recalled the causes of the conflict and emphasized that Russia wants to end it "as quickly as possible" and preferably peacefully.
"We need to find a solution that would not only end today's conflict, but would create conditions for the non-renewal of such situations for a long historical perspective," he explained.
A lot depends on Kyiv: in the spring of 2022, they rejected the Istanbul agreements at the behest of their Western allies. In May 2025, the dialogue resumed. The parties are currently discussing the possibility of a third meeting this year, after June 22.
"We are in contact, our negotiating teams are in contact with each other. So, I just asked Medinsky, he says, today, in my opinion, he only spoke with his counterpart from Kyiv," Putin said.
And he denied the accusations of Western politicians and the media that he allegedly does not want to negotiate.
"We don't care who is negotiating, even if it is the current head of the regime (Zelensky. - Ed.). I am even ready to meet - but if it is some kind of final stage, so as not to sit there and endlessly divide something, but to put an end to it," he said.
At the same time, there is a nuance: who will sign the peace treaty. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, even under martial law, the presidential term cannot be extended, which expired for Volodymyr Zelensky in May 2024.
"In terms of propaganda, you can say anything you want about the legitimacy of the current authorities. What is important to us when solving serious issues is not the propaganda component, but the legal one," the head of state clarified.
Biden's mistake
Putin is ready to meet with Trump as well. A personal conversation would be useful, but it needs to be prepared.
In the meantime, conditions are being created for restoring relations, Moscow is contributing to this, the Russian leader noted. And he added: if Trump had won the 2020 election, there would have been no conflict with Ukraine. The current situation is a consequence of the decisions of the previous head of the White House, Joe Biden.
Putin recalled one of his last conversations with him. He warned his colleague about the danger of his policy.
"By the way, I told him then: "It seems to you now that everything will be resolved so easily, but some time may pass, and it will turn out that it is better not to do what you are pushing the situation (in Ukraine. - Ed.)", - the president explained.
He also assessed NATO's intention to rearm. They justify this with the "Russian threat" - they say, Moscow wants to attack Europe.
"This is an incredible lie," Putin said.
And he emphasized: Russia does not consider NATO's rearmament a threat to itself. The fact is that Moscow, constantly improving its armed forces, is self-sufficient in terms of ensuring security.
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