Putin responding. just now, to a question from a reporter on why Russia and the US have excluded the EU from Ukraine peace talks (my translation):
"They had this fantasy about imposing a strategic defeat on Russia and all these talking points [EU officials] keep repeating show some of them are still stuck in these illusions. Even though they know, they absolutely know, that ship sailed ages ago and was never realistic in the first place. They just convinced themselves it was true because they wanted to believe it. And now they can’t bring themselves to admit they were wrong. They’ve basically taken themselves out of the whole process. That’s the first thing.
"Second. They look at the situation today, don’t like what they see, and instead of being helpful, they’ve started getting in the way of the current US administration and President Trump, who’s trying to reach a peace deal through negotiations. They walked away from talks themselves, and now they’re blocking Trump too.
"Third. They don’t have a peace plan at all. They’re openly backing war. And even when they pretend they’re proposing "adjustments" to Trump’s plan, it’s obvious what they’re doing: every one of those changes is meant to kill the peace process entirely. They set conditions that they know Russia could never accept, and then the plan is to blame Russia later for the collapse. That’s the whole game. And we see it clearly.
"So if they want to come back down to earth and deal with reality as it is on the ground, they’re welcome to [join the process]."
Mike