Putin: we must think how to stop 'the tragedy' in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk attend the G20 virtual summit via a video link in Moscow, Russia, November 22, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Group of 20 leading economies on Wednesday that it was necessary to think about how to stop "the tragedy" of the war in Ukraine, and said Moscow had never refused to participate in peace talks with Kyiv.

Putin's decision to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 triggered Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two and the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War.