Vladimir Putin says he’s ready to go to war with Europe, griping that EU leaders have sabotaged peace talks

 Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said he is ready to go to war with Europe, accusing EU leaders of sabotaging peace talks with the US.

“We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” Putin warned.

Putin slammed European leaders for their repeated calls to reject Moscow’s maximalist demands to end the war, which would see Ukraine concede land and shrink its army.

The Russian strongman also said that Europe’s counterproposal, which called for NATO membership to remain on the table for Ukraine, was “absolutely unacceptable.”  

Putin’s comments came ahead of the scheduled peace talks between the Kremlin and President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Putin welcomed Witkoff early Tuesday, with only an interpreter set to join the two Americans as they discuss the latest US-backed peace proposal with Putin and his team. 

While the US is leading the latest round of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, European leaders have urged Trump to be harsh on Putin and avoid rewarding Russia for invading Ukraine.

After Trump’s controversial 28-point peace plan leaked — a plan that heavily favored Russia — Europe presented its own counterproposal that removed the concessions being asked of Ukraine.

European officials have argued that Ukraine must remain heavily fortified to act as a “steel porcupine” to keep Russia from invading further into Europe.

Putin has criticized the input as direct interference from Europe, stating that “European demands are not acceptable to Russia.”

“Europe is preventing the US administration from achieving peace in Ukraine,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Along with his latest attacks on Europe, Putin also threatened retaliation against Ukraine’s ports following recent attacks on Russia’s shadow fleet in the Black Sea.

The US meeting with Putin comes a day after a Ukrainian delegation met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to hammer out more details of the current 19-point peace plan.

Rubio told reporters that “much work remains” to secure an end to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War.