Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday claimed that his outgoing US counterpart Joe Biden proposed postponing Ukraine's NATO accession in 2021.
"I know that the current President Biden spoke about this, it is no secret, back in 2021. He proposed exactly this to me - to delay Ukraine's admission to NATO for 10-15 years, because it is not ready yet," Putin told reporters in a press briefing in St. Petersburg.
Expressing that he agreed with Biden's assessment about Ukraine not being ready, Putin said: "But you will prepare it and accept it."
"From the historical point of view … it is one moment. For us, what difference does it make - today, tomorrow or in 10 years," he added.
He went on to say that, in this regard, he is not familiar with the statements of Trump's team, later questioning there is no difference between the Biden administration and the reported proposals of Trump's team.
"I don't know how this situation will develop further, what the instructions from the elected president to his colleagues will be. We'll see," he said.
Russia has cited NATO's expansion towards its borders as a key reason to start its "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Trump, who will take charge next month, has questioned US assistance to Ukraine and has vowed to end the conflict swiftly.
Putin also commented on his recent talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico late Sunday, saying that the premier expressed his country's readiness to provide a platform for negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
"If it comes to that - why not. Because Slovakia takes such a neutral position, from our point of view. This is an acceptable option for us," he said.
Expressing that Russia has always been in favor of deliveries of natural gas to Europe, Putin said that they have also been for "depoliticizing economic issues," indicating Moscow's readiness to supply gas via neighboring Poland.
The Russian president went on to remind Ukraine's decision of not to extend the contract between Moscow and Kyiv on gas transit to Europe which is set to expire on Jan. 1.
"They (Ukraine) are pecked from the hand, as I have already said, by Europe, because without European support Ukraine cannot even exist, let alone fight. But now they are punishing the same Europe by closing the transit contract for the supply of our gas to Europe," he went on to say.
He also said that it would not be possible to renew the contract before the New Year as it is "impossible to conclude it in 3-4 days."
Talking about Russia's new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile system, Putin said that despite not having many of these systems yet, they are still in possession of it and more than one such system.
"We are in no hurry to use them because these weapons are powerful, they are designed to solve specific problems. We have started serial production, now we will produce the required quantity and what we need, we will place something on the territory of Belarus," Putin said.
He further said that Russia always responds "in kind" to attacks on its territory, saying: "They use certain weapons against us-we use the same."
