The Russian president, Vladimir Putinhas admitted that “We have to think about how to stop this tragedy“, alluding to the war in Ukraine during his intervention in the virtual summit of G20 leaders.

“Of course, military actions are always a tragedy for individual individuals and families, and for the country in general. Without a doubt, we must think about how to stop this tragedy“Putin said during a speech broadcast on public television, while adding that Russia has “never” refused to enter into peace negotiations with Kyiv.

Putin recalled that he was the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskywho by decree prohibited dialogue with Russia to end the conflict that Moscow began in February 2022. In addition, he alluded to colleagues who were “shocked” with the consequences of the Russian “aggression” against the neighboring country.

“I understand that war, the death of people, cannot not be moving. And the bloody coup in Ukraine in 2014 that led to the Kyiv regime’s war against its own people in Donbas? Doesn’t that move you?“, he said. And he added: “And the extermination of the civilian population in Palestine, in the Gaza Strip, isn’t it impressive? And the fact that doctors have to operate on children (…), use scalpels on children’s bodies without anesthesia, doesn’t it have an impact?”

“And for the Secretary General of the UN to say that Gaza has become a great children’s cemetery, isn’t it moving?” he stressed. Putin did not attend the last three G20 summits in Italy, Indonesia and last September in India. In the latter he was represented by the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.