Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures speaking to journalists after the plenary session of the VTB "Russia Calling" Investment forum in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool Photo via AP)
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia did not want a war with European powers, but was ready to fight if Europe did want a direct conflict with Moscow.
“We’re not going to have a war with Europe, I’ve already said. But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that,” Putin said.
He also threatened that if Europe starts a war with Russia, there could be “a situation in which there won’t be anyone to negotiate with.”
‘Europe locked out of peace talks on Ukraine’
Putin accused European countries of hindering US President Donald Trump’s attempts to end the war in Ukraine by putting forward proposals they knew would be “absolutely unacceptable” to Moscow, so they could then accuse Russia of not wanting peace.
“That’s their goal,” Putin said.
Putin said European powers had locked themselves out of peace talks on Ukraine because they had cut off contacts with Russia.
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“They are on the side of war,” Putin said of European powers.
Putin also threatened to sever Ukraine’s access to the sea in response to drone attacks on tankers of Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.
“The most radical solution is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy will be impossible in principle,” Putin said in televised remarks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures speaking to journalists after the plenary session of the VTB “Russia Calling” Investment forum in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool Photo via AP)
He said Russia would intensify strikes on Ukrainian facilities and vessels, and would take measures against tankers of countries that help Ukraine.
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Drone strikes on Russian shadow fleet
On Saturday, a Ukrainian security official said Ukrainian naval drones hit two sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets.
On Tuesday, a Russian-flagged tanker loaded with sunflower oil reported a drone attack off the Turkish coast but its 13 crew members were unharmed, Turkey’s maritime authority and the Tribeca shipping agency said. Ukraine said it had nothing to do with that incident.
Ukraine has also carried out missile and drone attacks on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk that have disrupted oil shipments.
Putin’s comments come as US special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow to meet the Russian President to discuss the draft peace plan that Washington has proposed to bring an end to the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures speaking to journalists after the plenary session of the VTB "Russia Calling" Investment forum in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool Photo via AP) 
