KYZYL. Sept 2 (Interfax) - Russia has always called for Ukraine peace talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We have always called for a peaceful settlement," Putin told schoolchildren in Kyzyl.
Kiev is not interested in holding talks at this point because of the need for a presidential election in Ukraine, Putin said.
"This is why they have staged this provocation in the Kursk region, and attempted a similar provocation in the Belgorod region before that," he said.
"The incumbent authorities [in Ukraine] are not legitimate even by domestic laws," Putin said.
"They were supposed to hold a presidential election but canceled this election under the pretext of martial law. This runs counter to the fundamental law, the constitution of Ukraine. What did it lead to? If the fighting stops, the Ukrainian authorities will have to lift martial law, and after lifting martial law, they will have to hold a presidential election immediately. The incumbent authorities are clearly not prepared for that. There is not much chance for their reelection. Hence, they have no interest in ending the hostilities," Putin said.
"I have always said that we want to solve any disputes by peaceful means," he said.
"The hot phase [of the conflict in Ukraine] began after our enemy discarded every agreement allowing for a peaceful settlement in Donbas," Putin said.
"Actually, they said they would not implement the so-called Minsk Agreements by which we agreed back then [in 2014-2015] on further relations with Ukraine and inside Ukraine, with people who stay connected to our country, Russia," he said.
"Yet they discarded all those agreements and started preparing for military operations, which they repeatedly held on the Donbas territory before. For our part, we actually started to defend people, our people, living on that territory," Putin said.