Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that the fighting in Ukraine will stop after Ukrainian troops withdraw from their positions in key areas, but if they do not do so, then Russian forces will achieve their goals through force, world agencies reported, BTA reported.
The pace of Russia's progress in all directions is “visibly increasing“, he assured. Putin also called “crooks“ people who claim that Russia can attack Europe.
“There are people there [in Europe] who, in my opinion, are a bit crazy or crooks who want to get something in return when they publicly tell their population, their citizens, that Russia is preparing to attack Europe and that they must immediately strengthen their defense potential“, he said, quoted by TASS.
According to him, international legal recognition of the Ukrainian territories seized by Russia “is important“. “It is one thing to have a decision on recognition and certain territories to be under Russian sovereignty, and in case of violation of the agreements this will be an attack on the Russian Federation with all the ensuing retaliatory measures from Russia“, the president explained. “Or it would be perceived as an attempt to return territory that legally belongs to Ukraine. These are different things," he added.
“That is why, of course, we need recognition“, Putin summed up. “But not from Ukraine today“, the Russian president pointed out.
“Signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless. I have already spoken on this topic many times. I believe that the Ukrainian leadership made a fundamental, strategic mistake when it was afraid to go to the presidential elections, after which the president lost his legitimate status“, Putin said.
The Russian president also said that he was surprised by the US sanctions against all Russian oil companies.
Last month, the US imposed the strictest sanctions to date on the Russian energy sector, targeting the companies “Lukoil“ and “Rosneft“, Reuters recalls. Sanctions are hurting Russia's relations with the United States, Putin said.
The Russian president has dismissed as nonsense allegations that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has shown a bias toward Moscow during peace talks on Ukraine.
Witkoff has come under sharp criticism in Europe and the United States this week after a leaked recording of a phone call in which he advises a Kremlin official on how Putin should conduct peace talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Putin told reporters it would be surprising if Witkoff had hurled insults at Russia during the call. "This is nonsense," he said, describing Witkoff as an American citizen defending his country's interests.
The Russian president also said Russia was preparing a package of retaliatory measures in response to the potential seizure of Russian assets in Europe. He warned that any move to seize Russian assets would constitute "theft of property" and would have a negative impact on the global financial system.