Moscow [Russia], September 2: Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday (September 1) that to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine, the parties need to resolve the issue of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s continued expansion of influence to the east.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the West was trying to draw Ukraine into NATO, which Moscow has long considered a direct threat to Russia.
"For a lasting and sustainable solution to the Ukrainian problem, the root causes of the crisis must be eliminated and the security environment must be restored," Putin said, according to Reuters. The Kremlin leader added that the consensus he reached with US President Donald Trump during their bilateral talks in August had opened the way to peace in Ukraine. President Putin also appreciated the efforts and proposals from countries such as China and India to facilitate the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed that Europe is drawing up detailed plans for the deployment of a multinational military force to Ukraine to ensure security after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to the Financial Times on August 31. Russia had previously stated that it would not accept the idea of deploying NATO members' troops to Ukraine .
Meanwhile, on August 31, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian leaders still showed no signs of being ready to negotiate with Kyiv. In another development, President Zelensky announced yesterday (September 1) that Ukrainian authorities had arrested a suspect in the shooting death of former Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
