Putin tells Kremlin crowd Russia threatens no one, pushes cooperation

Vladimir Putin stepped up to a Kremlin podium Wednesday with a simple message: Russia isn't coming for anyone. Speaking at a state awards presentation ceremony, the Russian president said his country threatens no one and is ready to work with other nations, according to Breaking The News.

Putin framed that openness as a question of when, not if, others come around. He said Russia strives for cooperation, and that countries not yet ready would eventually draw the right conclusions and adjust their attitudes — pointing to unnamed friends around the world as the example to follow.

The timing is hard to miss. The Kremlin is deep in logistics for a possible three-way sit-down between Putin, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Shenzhen on Nov. 18 and 19. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that talks are underway and that participants broadly agree such an encounter would be useful and highly beneficial.

Beijing hasn't fully committed. The Financial Times reported the US and Russia are pressing China to agree to a trilateral format, while Chinese officials weigh whether to gather all three leaders at once or run separate bilateral meetings instead. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning confirmed Wednesday that communication with relevant parties is happening, but offered no further details at her press conference.

Putin also kept other lines warm this week. Iran's National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei and the Russian president discussed regional and global developments, with a focus on West Asia, in a phone call reported by Iran's Fars News Agency. Rezaei thanked Moscow for its support, and both sides pledged to keep up strategic cooperation.

For now, the Putin-Trump-Xi meeting remains unconfirmed. The Kremlin says it hopes coordination wraps up soon — and Putin's cooperation pitch on Wednesday reads like a man warming up a room he expects to walk into.