Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out talks with his US counterpart Joe Biden on Ukraine, adding that he does not see it necessary "immediately" to launch massive new strikes there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he is not planning new "intense" strikes in Ukraine, after those launched at the beginning of the week in response to the partial destruction of the Crimean bridge, which he blames on Kyiv.
"In the near future, there is no need for massive strikes. There are other targets at the moment. We will see later," Putin said during a press conference after a regional summit in Kazakhstan, stressing that his goal was not to "destroy Ukraine."
Putin also said he "sees no need" for talks with his US counterpart Joe Biden at a time when tensions are rising with Washington over a range of issues, including Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Asked about a possible meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in November, Putin said, "We must ask him whether he is ready to hold such talks with me or not. I don't see a need, to be honest." He added that his participation in the summit hosted by Indonesia has not yet been decided.
Putin acknowledged that Moscow's allies, represented by the former Soviet republics, were "concerned" about the conflict in Ukraine, but considered that the conflict did not affect their relations with the Kremlin.
"Of course, our partners are concerned and concerned about the future of Russian-Ukrainian relations...but this does not in any way affect the nature, quality and depth of Russia's relations with these countries," he said.
Putin also thanked President Erdogan for his important role in facilitating the exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine and the grain agreement.
Putin expressed Moscow's readiness for dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis, pointing to the existence of "Indian and Chinese mediation" in order to start a dialogue to resolve the crisis.
"The positions of our partners regarding our military operation in Ukraine have not changed," he said.
And the Russian president considered that Germany "mistakenly" sided with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Ukraine crisis.
Regarding the decision to mobilize, Putin indicated that he does not plan to expand the "partial" mobilization that he announced three weeks ago in the context of the war on Ukraine, noting that 222,000 men have been recruited so far.
And he indicated that "nothing else has been planned. No proposals have been received from the Ministry of Defense and I do not see the need for them in the foreseeable future," adding that he expected the mobilization to end "within two weeks," acknowledging that it had witnessed failures.
On Friday, Russia said it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of Ukrainian shelling of a Russian border area, which resulted in deaths and injuries.
The official investigative committee did not specify the number of casualties in the attack, which occurred on Thursday, and said that shells from Ukraine destroyed an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region.
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