The briefing at the Kremlin, which was announced at midnight Moscow time, started with a delay of an hour and a half, with journalists being warned of a «substantial» speech, but without questions.
After listing the countries that attended the parade and the number of meetings with Xi Jinping, as well as talking about the threats to those who came and their resilience, Vladimir Putin moved to the issue of peace negotiations with Ukraine.
Putin stated that Russia «repeatedly initiated ceasefire proposals, but they were sabotaged». According to him, Ukraine violated the moratorium on strikes on energy facilities, and the Easter truce was not observed. «Nevertheless, on the eve of Victory Day, we declared a truce for the third time, not excluding the possibility of extending the truce, depending on how the Kyiv regime responds to it», Putin reported, noting that during this time «there were 5 attempts to attack the Russian border». He immediately proposed «immediate» negotiations, «without preconditions» on May 15 in Istanbul, noting that it was there that negotiations took place in 2022, which were interrupted by Ukraine.
«There are ongoing hostilities, war, and we propose to resume negotiations, which were not interrupted by us. Well, what's wrong with that? Those who truly want peace cannot fail to support this», Putin is confident.
«Our proposal is on the table, the decision is up to Ukraine and their curators, who seem to be guided by their personal political ambitions, not the interests of their peoples, wanting to continue the war with Russia using Ukrainian nationalists», Vladimir Putin concluded his «substantial» speech. After which he thanked everyone again and announced: «Since it is now almost three in the morning, I release you with God's blessing».