SECURITY: Putin Offers To Meet Zelenskyy And Trump In Moscow

Reuters reporting comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wide-ranging press conference in Beijing. Putin confirms an invitation is "on the table" for President Donald Trump to visit Russia, but there are "no preparations" for such a trip at the moment.

• Putin said he is ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, if the Ukrainian leader came to Moscow, but questioned the “sense” of a meeting: “If meeting with Zelenskyy is well prepared, then I am ready to meet. Let Zelenskyy come to Moscow and the meeting will happen.”
• Putin said Russia is ready "if necessary" to raise the level of its negotiators in talks with Ukraine, appearing to acknowledge European criticism of the junior negotiating team dispatched to talks with Kyiv in recent Istanbul talks.
• Putin said Russian forces are “advancing on all fronts in Ukraine,” and said Ukraine is not capable of conducting large-scale offensive operations. Interfax notes that Putin said Russia is fighting for “people's right to speak their native [Russian] language,” in Ukraine, rather than territory.
• Putin's comments may be designed to raise optimism that Moscow is actively working towards a peace deal with Ukraine ahead of a key summit of European leaders in Paris tomorrow that is aimed at finalising security assurances for Kyiv.
• Zelenskyy said in a statement that he told Euro counterparts in Copenhagen today that the Russian economy "is in bad shape: fuel and labor shortages, many industries in decline. Putin constantly humiliates before China as he tries to sell them as much raw material as possible. This is telling – sanctions are working."