He added that “this crisis wasn’t triggered by Russia‘s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West”. He also attributed the war to “the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO”. The Russian president is strongly against Ukraine joining the Western military alliance.

Putin’s comments come only days after Russia launched its second biggest aerial attack on Ukraine in the war in Kyiv, killing at least 23 people.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that Putin faces a Monday deadline from Trump to agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Macron said that failure to meet the deadline would suggest Putin is “playing” Trump once again.

After the Alaska meeting, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin had agreed to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a possible future peace deal, though Moscow has not confirmed this. Meanwhile, Zelensky has dismissed proposals for a buffer zone with Russia in any peace deal, accusing Moscow of avoiding genuine diplomacy and trying to delay an end to the war.

In an August 22 interview with CNN, Trump said he was giving Putin a few more weeks to respond before the US takes action – the latest in a string of ultimatums and deadlines he has set for the Russian leader.