Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, told Kyiv on Wednesday that he was prepared to use force if necessary, but that he preferred the option of ending the crisis in Ukraine through discussions “if common sense prevails.”
After a visit to Beijing that ended with an agreement on a new gas pipeline to China, Putin said he saw “a certain light at the end of the tunnel” because of what he described as genuine U.S. efforts to resolve Europe’s largest land war since World War Two.
“I believe it will be feasible to reach a consensus on a workable resolution to the problem if common sense wins out.
