Putin says Russia does not want war with Europe and calls preparations for conflict with Moscow ‘political schizophrenia’

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was neither seeking nor preparing for war with Europe and described repeated warnings of a Russian threat as a form of “political schizophrenia.”

Putin made the remarks in an interview with Russian state television correspondent Pavel Zarubin published Thursday, as Moscow prepared for renewed U.S.-mediated talks with Ukraine.

“They are constantly talking about the threat from Russia and preparing for war with Russia, which, in my view, is a kind of political schizophrenia,” Putin said. “But I hope this, too, will eventually pass.”

He argued that political developments across Europe showed that ordinary Europeans did not want a conflict with Russia.

“I want us to be heard. We do not want war, and we are not preparing for any kind of war with Europe,” Putin said.

His remarks come as European governments increase defense spending and warn about Russian military and hybrid threats. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this week that Moscow’s efforts to destabilize European societies were his biggest concern.

Putin also repeated his longstanding assertion that Russians and Ukrainians constitute “one people,” citing what he described as recent genetic research.

“The latest genetic research shows that Russians and Ukrainians are actually one people,” he said. “If someone wants to think differently, to see things differently, that’s fine. We accept that.”

Putin has also said Moscow remains ready to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, while insisting Russia will achieve the objectives of what it calls its “special military operation” if diplomacy fails.