Ready to talk if Kyiv agrees to new territorial realities: Putin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is open to dialogue with Ukraine if it accepts the territories occupied by Moscow as Russia. He was speaking to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the latter initiated a phone call to discuss peace talks.

The Kremlin in a statement said that Putin again confirmed Russia's openness to serious dialogue on the condition of Kyiv authorities fulfilling the well-known and repeatedly voiced requirements of taking into account the new territorial realities. Russian troops are currently occupying large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Moscow claims that it has annexed the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. However, these places are not entirely controlled by Russian troops.

The statement also blamed the West for providing Kyiv with weapons and information. "The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets."

Russia began the invasion of Ukraine 316 days ago.

Turkey and Russia also discussed the unblocking of food and fertiliser supplies from Russia and the removal of all barriers to Russian exports.

Following a request from Russia's spiritual leader Patriarch Kirill, Putin on Thursday ordered a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine on the eve of Orthodox Christmas. "Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the defence minister of the Russian Federation to introduce from 12:00 (0900 GMT) on January 6, 2023, until 24:00 (2100 GMT) on January 7, 2023, a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine," said an official statement.