Putin says Ukraine conflict could have been avoided had Trump been in office
Moscow, Jan 24 (AP): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday echoed US President Donald Trump's claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022. He also said Moscow is ready for talks with the US on a broad range of issues.
In an interview with Russian state television, Putin praised Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests.
“We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current US president,” Putin said. “I couldn't disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn't stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided."
Putin's statement was his bluntest endorsement yet of Trump's refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.
Trump also has said repeatedly he wouldn't have allowed the conflict to start if he had been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in the east of the country between Kyiv's forces and separatists aligned with Moscow, ahead of Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022.
On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should have made a deal with Putin to avoid the conflict.
Putin emphasised Friday that he's open to talks but pointed to Zelenskyy's 2022 decision to rule out negotiations with Moscow.
“How is it possible to conduct talks if they are banned?” Putin said. “If the talks start in the existing legal framework, they would be illegitimate and the results of those talks could also be declared illegitimate.”
He also said the US and Russia have many other items on their agenda, including nuclear arms control and economic issues.
“We can have quite a lot of points of contact with the current administration and search for solutions to key issues of today,” Putin said.
He said the sanctions against Russia introduced during Trump's first term and under Joe Biden's administration had hurt US interests, undermining the dollar's role in global financial system.
Putin described Trump as "not only clever, but a pragmatic man," adding. “I find it hard to imagine that he would make decisions that would hurt the American economy.”
“We'd better meet and have a calm conversation on all issues of interest to both the United States and Russia based on today's realities,” Putin said.
He noted that as top oil producers and major industrial powers, Russia and the US aren't interested in global oil prices being either too low or too high. “We have things to talk about,” Putin said.
Speaking by video from the White House to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Trump said the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries shares responsibility for the nearly 3-year-old conflict in Ukraine because it has kept oil prices too high.
“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” he said. Energy sales form a large part of Russia's earnings.
Asked about Trump's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov affirmed Moscow's view that the conflict was triggered by the West's refusal to take into account Russian security interests.
“The conflict doesn't depend on oil prices,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “The conflict is ongoing because of the threat to Russia's national security, the threat to Russians living on those territories and the refusal by the Americans and the Europeans to listen to Russia's security concerns. It's not linked to oil prices.”
Peskov's comments echoed Putin's statements that he had to send troops into Ukraine to fend off a threat to Russia's security resulting from plans for Ukraine to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers living there. Ukraine and the West have denounced Moscow's action as an unprovoked act of aggression.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened to impose stiff tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn't reached to end the fighting in Ukraine.
Peskov said the Kremlin was closely following Trump's statements and noted he imposed a slew of sanctions in his first term. He said Moscow “remains ready for an equal dialogue, for a mutually respectful dialogue.”
“This dialogue took place between the two presidents during Trump's first presidency. And we are waiting for signals that we have not received yet,” Peskov said.
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
