Kuybyshevsky oil refinery
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At Valdai, Putin pushes neutrality for Ukraine, repeats nuclear warnings and rejects strikes-for-strikes swap
Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club plenary on October 1, Vladimir Putin tied any settlement in Ukraine to Ukrainian neutrality and the full occupation of Donbas, repeated nuclear threats tied to Kaliningrad and to Western arms supplies, and rejected a mutual halt to strikes on ships and oil refineries. He cast the Trump-era peace track as "movement in the right direction" but said it contains "difficult" decisions for Russia, and he framed Russia as seeking a place in a future world order rather than a return to pre-war normality.