Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed suggestions that he was “jealous” of the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xi concluded a three-day state visit to the United States on Friday following talks with Trump aimed at strengthening relations between Washington and Beijing.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the United Cultures Forum in St. Petersburg, Putin was asked about the meeting and the possibility of a future trilateral engagement involving him, Trump and Xi at the APEC summit.

“Jealousy is something from a completely different area of a humanitarian nature—relationships between men and women,” Putin said, adding that such a concept does not apply to international politics.

Putin welcomed the US-China negotiations and any agreement he described as positive, noting that the two countries are the world’s largest economies and that their decisions have significant global implications.

However, he expressed uncertainty about attending the upcoming APEC summit in China, saying developments inside Russia would determine his travel plans.

On Europe, Putin accused some European leaders of misleading their citizens with claims that Russia intends to attack them, describing such allegations as “complete nonsense.” He also criticised Estonia’s Defence Minister, Martin Herem, over calls for military mobilisation, while commenting on Estonia’s relatively small population.

Addressing the Ukraine conflict, Putin said proposals for a settlement remained on the table but insisted that Moscow would assess the terms before deciding its next steps.

He also suggested that Russia was prepared to resume diplomatic engagement with Kyiv following Ukraine’s parliamentary elections, while alleging that Ukraine had targeted polling stations in Moscow.

Putin said recent Russian strikes were in response to attacks on civilian sites, including warehouses belonging to Wildberries and Ozon, stating that Moscow had begun responding to each such action.