Putin says Russia is ‘ready’ to fight a war with Europe ‘right now’

"We are ready right now."

“We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” he said. “They are on the side of war.”

The Russian leader accused Europe's demands for a possible peace settlement in Ukraine as “absolutely unacceptable”.

He suggested that European powers were making it difficult for Donald Trump to broker a peace deal.

His comments came ahead of talks between US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

It comes after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine has agreed a 20-point peace plan with the US.

“Some things still need to be worked out,” Zelenskyy told reporters, after a 28-point plan was reworked.

“The work was based on the Geneva document, and that document has been refined,” he wrote on Tuesday.

“Our diplomats are actively working with all partners to ensure that European countries and other participants in the Coalition of the Willing are meaningfully involved in developing decisions.”