Russia should have “started earlier” to act in Ukraine, hoping to resolve the situation peacefully, Vladimir Putin said at a news conference on Friday after visiting Kyrgyzstan.

“Obviously, to be honest, we were slow to find our bearings. Perhaps, all this should have started earlier. We just hoped that we could agree within the framework of the Minsk peace accords. But what can you say about that…” said the Russian president.

Earlier in the day, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Minsk agreements were “an attempt to give Kiev time to step up”. Putin noted that he considers these words as proof of the correctness of Moscow’s position to start its military operation. According to him, in the relations between Russia and the West, trust is already “almost at zero”, but after Merkel’s statement, “it is not clear how to negotiate, with whom and with what guarantees”.

The Russian president added that “managing the situation in Ukraine” will take a long time.

He then referred to the imposition of a cap on oil prices by the West, saying it would cancel investment in the energy industry, lead to a catastrophic rise in prices, and was a stupid move.

“The industry is not underinvested anyway, not underfunded, and if we continue to only listen to the consumer, then that investment will go to zero, all of which will eventually lead to a catastrophic rise in prices and the collapse of global energy. This is a stupid proposal, ill-conceived and uncalculated,” Putin said.”In terms of our own reaction, as I’ve already said, we simply will not sell to these countries that make such decisions.”

In Europe, gas prices are soaring, while Russia sells gas to some of its partners more than 10 times cheaper, the Russian president continued.

He also said that the contact between the special services between Russia and the United States is continuing. “Contacts (through the special services) continue. They never stopped,” he said, adding that Russia does not rule out continuing this work in the future.

At another point, he stated that there is no talk, in the current period, of additional military mobilisation.