Putin Denies Plans to Attack Europe, Blames Ukraine for Talks Collapse

Speaking with reporters at St. Petersburg's United Cultures Forum on September 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was not preparing for military action against Europe, and he blamed Ukraine for the breakdown of peace negotiations, citing a drone attack on Moscow during Russia's parliamentary elections.²⁴⁷

No plans against Europe

Putin said Russia was not preparing for combat of any kind with Europe and had no such plans, according to accounts of his remarks at the forum. He said many people in Europe expected Russian aggression and believed they must prepare for war with Russia, and he said some European politicians used the perceived threat to justify continued spending in support of Ukraine.²⁴

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the following day that Putin had repeatedly made clear Russia does not intend to wage war against Europe.⁶

Blaming Kyiv for stalled talks

Putin said Ukraine had signalled readiness to resume negotiations shortly before Russia's State Duma elections, and that Moscow would have been prepared to resume contact afterward. "Indeed, we said that negotiations would hardly be possible before the State Duma elections, but after that we would be ready to resume these engagements," he said.³⁴⁷

He said that instead, on the main day of voting, Ukraine attacked Moscow. Putin said that on the night of September 19-20, Russian forces intercepted an attempted large-scale assault in which upwards of 1,600 drones entered Moscow's airspace, with several polling stations struck.²³⁴⁵

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country's military employed long-distance weaponry in the nighttime strike on the Moscow region, calling the action a justified response and urging direct talks with Russia. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the assault as the biggest drone strike yet on the Russian capital, and officials said fires broke out at an oil refinery in Moscow's Kapotnya district and at the Sofyino logistics technopark. Ukraine's General Staff said three units at the refinery had been damaged.³

Negotiations status

Putin said all proposals for resuming talks remained open. "They are all on the table. It's all possible," he said, adding that Russia would weigh its own interests before deciding whether to resume negotiations. "But after everything they have done, we will still have to think carefully about what we need to do in response," he said.³⁵⁴

He accused Kyiv of seeking to halt Russia's Geran drone campaign and argued that Ukraine's actions were backfiring, remarking, "they're only making things worse for themselves." According to Putin, Russia's strikes have inflicted enough damage that Ukraine has once more floated the idea of a ceasefire.⁵⁴

US-mediated efforts produced several rounds of talks between Moscow and Kyiv in 2025, but the process has not produced results and has been stalled since the start of the war in the Middle East in February, according to Putin's account. Moscow and Kyiv have remained firm in their positions, particularly over Ukrainian territory whose annexation Russia claims.²

Other remarks

Putin also touched on this week's Washington meeting between American President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping, saying Russia would welcome an "agreement of a positive nature" between the two countries, and said whether he attends the upcoming APEC summit in China would hinge on domestic developments.⁵

He raised the treatment of Russian speakers in the Baltic states, saying their rights were being violated and that Russia would respond through humanitarian and legal channels.⁴⁷