Putin says Ukraine is behind attacks: "They are the ones who started it" as Russia weighs options

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian journalists that options for settling the war with Ukraine remained available, but Russia had not decided how to proceed and would weigh its own interests, as reported by Russian news outlets. He said Ukraine attacked Moscow and voting sites after last week’s parliamentary elections, when Moscow had been ready to restart negotiations. He said Ukraine was behind the strikes and that they would draw a prolonged response. He linked the attacks to Ukraine’s requests for a ceasefire and new negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had asked U.S. President Donald Trump to encourage Chinese President Xi Jinping to intervene with Moscow to halt the conflict. Zelenskiy added that Washington wants lower-level delegations from the three countries to meet in a technical format, rather than a leaders’ summit.