MOSCOW — Russia supports any steps aimed at restoring full relations with European countries, President Vladimir Putin said late on Thursday, adding that Russia was prepared for a potential war with Europe even though it did not want one, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

"We support any steps… we support any actions aimed at restoring full-fledged and complete relations with European countries," Putin told reporters after hosting a summit with African leaders in Moscow, according to Reuters. "First of all, we are ready, but we want no war with Europe. And if anyone wants it, let them prepare, but right now they have not achieved their goal — to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. And if things go too far, there will be no winners at all. Let no one forget that."

Putin was responding to European plans to be ready to repel a Russian attack by 2030, The Moscow Times reported, citing Interfax. European governments have set that timeline for rearmament, and several European officials have warned that Moscow could rebuild enough strength to strike a NATO member before then.

Source: Defence Blog / The Moscow Times via Interfax

Praise for the Finland-Norway call, and a Baltic warning

Putin said Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere had been right to call him this week, despite criticism from some European capitals that the two were breaking ranks by initiating contact with Moscow, Reuters reported. The October 27 call, held in consultation with Ukraine and reported earlier by this site, was a rare direct push by the two Nordic leaders to convey messages about negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

He also said Russia wanted no impediments to navigation in the Baltic Sea, and warned against restricting communication there. "Does someone want the same situation in the Baltic as in the Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz?" Putin said, according to Reuters. "I don't know. We don't want that, but we will respond to any challenge."

Putin's remarks came as peace diplomacy around Ukraine widens: Kyiv expects a trilateral meeting with Russia and the United States by November 10, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Moscow may try to use the talks to push for a rollback of NATO's presence in eastern Europe — a claim Russia has not publicly confirmed. What happens next will depend on whether the Nordic opening and the planned trilateral talks produce a real negotiating track.