Putin began speaking at a brisk pace about the situation on the battlefield, in what may be a sign that the 16-month-old war has reached a tipping point with the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive.
“It is strange that we are noticing calm at the moment. This is due to the fact that the enemy is suffering heavy losses in soldiers and materiel,” Putin added.
However, Putin stressed that the capacity of the Ukrainian counteroffensive “has not yet been exhausted.”
Putin’s remarks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the progress of his country’s army was “slower than expected”.
New sanctions against Russia
On Wednesday, the European Union approved the eleventh package of sanctions against Russia, including measures aimed at tightening the screws to prevent it from circumventing the sanctions already imposed.
Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, reported that the new measures were approved during a meeting of the bloc’s ambassadors in Brussels.
As part of the new sanctions package, the European Union has included three Hong Kong-based companies on a list of companies whose exports of sensitive technologies are restricted by the bloc, according to a document seen by AFP.
On the other hand, five companies from mainland China that were included in an earlier proposal were removed from the list, according to a diplomatic source, after Beijing pushed Brussels to do so.
The European Union, which includes 27 countries, imposed an unprecedented set of sanctions on Moscow since Russia declared war on Ukraine last February.
But European diplomats acknowledged that the bloc is now close to reaching the limit of the sweeping measures agreed upon by all EU countries.
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