The President of Russia, Wladimir Putinheld the first marathon press conference since the war this Thursday (14). Ukraine started in February 2022. And the million dollar question was asked of the boss Kremlin was asked: What will it take for the conflict to end?
The answer came à la Putin: “There will only be peace with Ukraine if we achieve our goals.”
The Russian president has vowed to continue fighting in Ukraine until Moscow guarantees the country's “demilitarization,” “denazification” and neutrality unless Kiev accepts a deal that achieves those goals. These are issues he has highlighted since the beginning of the war.
“Practically along the entire line of contact, our forces are, let's say, slightly improving their position. Virtually all of them are in a phase of active action,” Putin said.
In Russia more than 4 hours of Putin
The “Hotline” program, which aired for more than four hours on most major Russian networks, began with Putin telling citizens: “The existence of our country without sovereignty is impossible.”
He added that Russia's economy had been strong during a period of war and stressed that the situation on the front line was improving.
Putin also announced that Russia currently has 617,000 soldiers fighting in Ukraine. He continued that in addition to the 300,000 people who were called up for military service last year, another 486,000 were voluntarily enlisted as contract soldiers.
“The influx of our men ready to defend the country's interests with weapons in hand is not decreasing,” he said. “In total there will be almost half a million men by the end of this year. Why do we need mobilization?”
He did not give any figures on military casualties, but announced that children of people in his “close” circle had died.
A confidential U.S. intelligence report estimated this week that 315,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured since the start of the war accounting for nearly 90 percent of Russian military personnel at the start of the invasion, according to the document.
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While the Russian leader spoke, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also held a press conference at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels and warned: “If Putin wins in Ukraine, there is a real risk of aggression.” that will not end.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned at the European Union (EU) summit that Putin would be indecisive about Ukraine's war against them.
“The people of Europe will not benefit if Moscow receives approval from Brussels in the form of negativity towards Ukraine. “Putin will certainly use this against you personally and against the whole of Europe,” Zelensky said.
*With information from BBC