wow, pretty amazing

24 Jan, 2025 15:04

2020 election victory was stolen from Trump – Putin

The Russian leader believes the Ukraine conflict might have been avoided if Donald Trump had become US president in 2020

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said the 2020 US presidential election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, and that had the outcome been declared fairly, the Ukraine conflict might have been avoided.

“I cannot disagree with him that if he had been president, if his victory hadn’t been stolen in 2020, perhaps the crisis in Ukraine that arose in 2022 wouldn’t have happened,” Putin has said in an interview published by Russia 1 TV journalist Pavel Zarubin on Telegram on Friday.

In 2023 Trump claimed to American radio host Hugh Hewitt that the Ukraine conflict would never have begun if the 2020 US elections hadn’t been “rigged” and Joe Biden hadn’t replaced him in there Oval Office.

“[Putin] would have never done it if the election weren’t rigged, our election. It was rigged and stolen. If that election wasn’t rigged, if I were president, you would right now have millions of people living that are dead,” according to an interview transcript.

Trump has never admitted that he lost the 2020 election, despite courts failing to find evidence of widespread voter fraud. He eventually stepped down as president after a crowd of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, interrupting the certification of Biden’s victory.

The Democrats accused Trump of inciting the riot and impeached him in 2021. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as a “witch hunt.”

He has consistently alleged the 2020 election was blighted by irregularities, and that he lost despite winning 10 million more votes than Biden.

Hours after he was sworn in for his second term Trump pardoned around 1,500 people involved in the storming of the Capitol building. He described the defendants as patriots and hostages, insisting that their prosecution was politically motivated.

In June 2021,Putin criticized the US government’s response to the Capitol riot, accusing it of double standards. He argued that while Washington condemns crackdowns on anti-government protests abroad, it prosecutes its own citizens who express political dissent. “They weren’t just a crowd of robbers and rioters. Those people had come with political demands,” Putin stated.

https://www.rt.com/russia/611582-trump-putin-stolen-election/

24 Jan, 2025 14:44

Moscow reacts to proposed US timeline for ending Ukraine conflict

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has urged Washington to adopt a realistic strategy

The Ukraine conflict cannot be resolved within 100 days unless the US adopts a more realistic approach, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.Both Moscow and Washington have recently signaled a willingness to engage in talks on the issue.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump had tasked Keith Kellogg, his special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, with ending the conflict within 100 days.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Ryabkov said the White House must adopt a realistic approach to resolving the conflict, and that the pace of any such process is still “difficult to project.”

“I would first like to understand what basis the US side intends to use to move toward a settlement,” Ryabkov said, as cited by TASS. “If they are based on the signals we have heard in recent days, then it won’t work, neither in 100 days nor even longer.”

Trump, who began his second term as president earlier this week, repeatedly vowed during his campaign that he would end the fighting within 24 hours if returned to office. Several weeks prior to his inauguration, Trump adjusted the timeline, saying he expected to negotiate peace within six months.

Speaking to reporters in the White House on Thursday, the US leader said he was ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as quickly as possible to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict.

During a teleconference address to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Trump announced plans to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down global oil prices, suggesting that this would help end the conflict by stripping Russia of revenues.

In an interview with Fox News aired one day previously, Trump threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia “if they don’t make a settlement fast.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday thatPutin is ready to speak with his US counterpart, adding that Moscow is “waiting for signals.”

Moscow has stated throughout the three-year conflict that it is ready for peace talks, accusing Ukraine of refusing to resume negotiations. Russian officials have also repeatedly criticized the West for providing military aid to Kiev, arguing that this merely prolongs the fighting. Moscow has warned that deeper Western engagement in the conflict increases the risks of a direct clash between Russia and NATO.

(It's hard for me to believe that Trump and Putin haven't talked already.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/611569-russia-us-ukraine-conflict-ryabkov/

24 Jan, 2025 15:29

West should push Kiev into talks with Moscow – Putin

Russia is ready for negotiations on the Ukraine conflict, President Vladimir Putin has said

Ukraine’s Western backers should push the government in Kiev to lift its ban on talks with Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putinsaid in an interview published by Russia 1 TV journalist Pavel Zarubin on Telegram on Friday. Any negotiations under the existing circumstances would be “illegitimate” from a purely legal point of view because of Vladimir Zelensky's prohibition on any talks with Russia made back in autumn 2022, he explained.

Kiev is “in no rush to follow the orders of its sponsors,” including when it comes to lifting the ban on talks with Russia, Putin said. The president added that he is aware of the West’s attempts to make Ukraine discard the prohibition.

The “Kiev regime” is satisfied with the current situation since it gets “hundreds of billions [of dollars] from its sponsors” that it can “chomp down on,"the Russian leader believes.

“I believe that those, who provide [Kiev] with money, should ultimately make it [lift the ban on the talks],” Putin said, adding that Ukraine will eventually have no other way than to remove the restrictions.

Russia is ready for peace talks, the president said; some “preliminary” contacts could be made right now. However, it is still “difficult to speak”about any “serious” steps that could follow until the prohibition is lifted, Putin believes.

Russia and the US can still find “many points of contact” when it comes to the most pressing issues, including the Ukraine conflict,Putin pointed out, recalling “pragmatic” and “business-like” relations with US President Donald Trump during his first tenure in the White House.

Trump was “trustworthy,” Putin recalled, adding that the Ukraine conflict could have possibly been averted had the Republican’s victory not been “stolen.”

“Russia has never forgone contact with the US administration,” the president said, pinning the blame for “giving up” on former US President Joe Biden.

“We see the [current US] president’s statements about [America’s] readiness for joint work and are always open for it,"Putin stated.

Trump has repeatedly stated he is seeking a swift end to the conflict. Following his inauguration earlier this week, the US president called on Moscow to strike a “deal” and put an end to the hostilities or face new sanctions. He maintained that he was “not looking to hurt Russia” and declared his love for the Russian people.

The US president has also stated on several occasions that he would like to meet Putin “soon,” and would do so “immediately” if possible.

Moscow has continually expressed a willingness to engage in talks with the US, adding that it expects an equal and respectful dialogue. According to the Kremlin, it has received no specific proposals from Washington so far.

(I don't think Kellogg is up to the task to work with Russia, and Zelensky will drag his feet for a long time, unless Trump gives him a mandate)

https://www.rt.com/russia/611583-west-should-push-kiev-into/