Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted today that military actions in Ukraine could be extended over time, but he ruled out a second wave of reservist mobilization. “Of course, this can be a lengthy process,” he said today at a meeting of the Kremlin-backed human rights council.
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At the same time, Putin stressed that it would be a mistake not to recognize that “new territories have appeared” in Russia, referring to the four Ukrainian regions annexed in September (Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia).
“It is a significant result for Russia. And the Azov Sea has become a Russian inland sea. These are serious things. Peter the Great already struggled to find a way out of Azov,” he said. He recalled that the referendums held in these four territories demonstrated, according to the head of the Kremlin, that their inhabitants want to live with Russia. “And that is the most important result. Now, they are with us. And they are millions of people. That’s the main thing,” she stressed.
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Putin used the word “war” to ensure that it was not Russia that started the fighting in Donbas in 2014, when the pro-Russian uprising against kyiv broke out.
In turn, today he ruled out a second wave of mobilization of reservists with the aim of reinforcing the troops that are already fighting Ukraine. “Those rumors (…) do not make sense. Today, there is no need for it, neither for the State nor for the Ministry of Defense,” he said.
The Russian leader explained that half of the reservists, 150,000 have joined the contingent deployed in Ukraine, of which only 77,000 are part of combat units.
“Half of all those mobilized are still in military polygons or training centers of the Ministry of Defense (…), they are what is known as a military reserve,” the president said.
The Russian opposition has turned to Putin to sign a decree that puts an end, once and for all, to partial mobilization, Emilia Slabunova, a deputy from the liberal party Yábloko, informed EFE, since some activists have denounced that in some regions continues enlistment.
Putin also denied today the mass desertion in the ranks of the Russian army in Ukrainethe existence of prisons for deserters or cases of execution of men who refuse to fight.
The latent fear of the nuclear weapon. What did Putin say?
The threat of a nuclear war increases, why are we going to fool ourselves
According to the president, Russia “Under no conditions” will be the first to use its nuclear arsenal. “Russia, under no conditions, will be the first to use (its nuclear weapons),” Putin said during a video conference meeting with members of the Kremlin-based Human Rights Council.
At the same time, the Russian leader acknowledged that the threat of nuclear war is growing. “The threat of a nuclear war increases, why are we going to fool ourselves”, the president said when asked about the deployment of US tactical weapons in European countries.
Faced with Putin’s statements, the United States declared that it considers it “irresponsible” to speak “lightly” of a nuclear weapon after Putin’s statements.
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Putin assured that Russia will not hand over its arsenal to anyone, not even its allies. “American nuclear weapons are in large numbers on European soil. We have not transferred our nuclear weapons to anyone and we are not going to,” Putin said.
Likewise, He assured that Moscow will defend its allies “with all the means at its disposal” in case of need. The Russian president insisted that the country’s nuclear weapons are “more advanced and modern” than the arsenal of other atomic powers.
Santiago Andres Venera Salazar
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and EFE
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