In his recent news conference, he addressed questions about the invasion of Ukraine. He emphasized that the situation on the front line is improving, despite ongoing challenges.
President Putin emphasized the importance of sovereignty for Russia and highlighted the strength of their economy during times of war. The discussion then shifted to Ukraine.
According to Mr. Putin, peace in Ukraine will only come when Russia achieves its objectives, which include denazification, demilitarization, and establishing a neutral status. He also revealed that Russia has 617, 000 troops currently fighting in Ukraine and an additional 486, 000 have signed up voluntarily as contract soldiers.
“The stream of our men who are ready to defend the interests of the homeland with weapons in their hands is not diminishing,” he said. “Altogether there will be just under half a million men by the end of this year. Why do we need a mobilization?”
“As for demilitarization, if they don’t want to come to an agreement, then we are forced to take other measures, including military ones. Or we will agree on certain terms. By the way we agreed on these in talks in Istanbul. But then these agreements were scrapped. But we agreed on this. There are other possibilities – either reach an agreement or resolve it by force. This is what we will strive for.”
President Putin dismissed Ukraine’s recent military success as a desperate attempt to reach Crimea. He stated that Russian forces strategically withdrew to protect their own troops, while suggesting that Kyiv is trying to secure more military funding from the West.
“I don’t know why they are doing it, they are pushing their people to get killed, it’s a one-way trip for Ukrainian forces. The reasons for this are political, because Ukrainian leaders are begging foreign countries for aid.”
The desire to bring Ukraine into NATO and the ongoing conflict in Donbass have led to the current tragedy. These actions have forced us into this situation.
“What the United States conceived and organized, Europe stands and silently watches, or plays and sings along with them there. Well how can we build relations with them?”
Mr. Putin claimed that Ukraine is heavily reliant on external support, stating that they produce almost nothing and rely on freebies. However, he warned that this support may not last forever and seems to be gradually diminishing.
“When internal changes happen (in the United States), when they start respecting other people, other countries, when they start looking for compromise instead of trying to resolve their issues with sanctions and military intervention, then the fundamental conditions will be in place to restore fully-fledged relations. So far, such conditions are not in place, but we are ready for that.”
