Putin threatened an asymmetric response to the supply of long-range weapons to Kyiv
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the editors-in-chief of world news agencies as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). He told reporters about the causes of the conflict in Ukraine, the prospects for its completion, and also spoke about Moscow’s possible response to the supply of long-range weapons to Kyiv.
Russia has the right to supply weapons to regions from where attacks will be carried out on sensitive targets of states, the head of state emphasized. The answer may be asymmetrical.
The President called the supply of high-precision weapons to Kyiv a path to very serious problems.
Such actions will completely destroy international relations and undermine international security… Well, in general, this is the path to very serious problems
Putin noted that Russia not only talks about protecting its interests, but does it and will do it. According to the head of state, everyone will have to reckon with this.
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Earlier, US President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory, but named the condition that American weapons would be used only near the borders of the Kharkov region. The position of the White House regarding the use of weapons transferred from the United States for strikes deep into Russian territory has remained unchanged.
In May, the Russian Armed Forces launched large-scale offensive operations in the Kharkov region. As Vladimir Putin explained, this is necessary to create a sanitary zone that will protect the border regions of Russia from attacks from Ukraine.
Putin on the causes of the conflict in Ukraine
Speaking about the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the head of state said that Russia did not attack, but defended itself.
Everyone believes that Russia started the war in Ukraine. But no one, I want to emphasize this, no one in the West, in Europe, wants to remember how this tragedy began
He added that the first step towards the conflict in Ukraine was taken by those who encouraged the coup in 2014, and Moscow is not to blame for this.
In April, the Russian leader said that the Russian Federation was forced to defend its future, sovereignty and people by armed means.
He said that Moscow wants to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible, but on its own terms. The president also drew attention to the fact that Russia does not want to “fight endlessly,” but at the same time it is not going to give up its position.
The President called a quick way to end the conflict in Ukraine. According to him, if the United States stops supplying weapons to Kyiv, this can be achieved in a few weeks.
Putin assessed Ukraine’s losses
Putin said that Russia’s losses in the framework of a special military operation (SVO) are much less compared to Ukrainian ones.
I can tell you with complete confidence that our losses, especially if it concerns, unfortunately, irreparable losses, are, of course, several times less than on the Ukrainian side
The President also estimated the irretrievable and sanitary losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to be approximately 50/50. According to him, the Ukrainian army in the special operation zone loses approximately 50 thousand people per month.
The head of state named the number of prisoners of war in Moscow and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
I can tell you exactly the numbers that are being held by both sides and are being held captive. There are 1,348 of our soldiers and officers on the Ukrainian side. We have 6465 Ukrainian soldiers
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Putin spoke about the prospects for ending the conflict
Speaking about ending the conflict, Putin noted that the United States should stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and the conflict will end in two to three months.
According to him, the condition for ending the Ukrainian crisis is Washington’s refusal to provide military assistance to Kyiv. Putin added that he told US President Joe Biden about the need to stop supplying the Ukrainian Armed Forces with weapons.
The head of state added that Ukraine was ready to accept Moscow’s conditions for the denazification of the country, having initialed the draft agreement in Istanbul. He emphasized that during the negotiations the parties reached many joint agreements on key issues to resolve the conflict peacefully.
The desire of some countries to achieve the goals of defeating Russia prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty between the countries, the president pointed out.
As you remember, we talked about the denazification of Ukraine. And I was very surprised when they started asking me, what is denazification? And this is a legal prohibition of Nazi propaganda
Moscow is also interested in Ukraine’s neutral status, guarantees of non-entry into any blocs, and arms restrictions, the head of state added.
At the end of February, Putin said that the Russian Armed Forces were confidently advancing in a number of directions in the special operation zone. He recalled that Russia did not start the war in Donbass – its goals are the eradication of Nazism, as well as the protection of the sovereignty and safety of residents. All tasks of the Northern Military District will be solved, the president assured.
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