Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed his commitment to the originally formulated military goals for 2021-2022 and clearly demonstrated his unwillingness to compromise. These messages were repeated in an interview with Indian media, which is part of the Kremlin's efforts to influence the international information space amid the ongoing negotiations. This was noted by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), News.bg reports.
The interview was given to the English-language magazine India Today ahead of Putin's state visit to India on December 4. In it, the Russian president states that Russia will end the war in Ukraine only after achieving the goals set at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Putin also emphasizes that in his opinion, the “best way” to resolve the conflict is for Ukraine to agree to a peace agreement, similar to the one Moscow tried to impose in 2022. He is referring to the Istanbul agreement, which would essentially mean a complete surrender of Ukraine.
The Kremlin is creating conditions to present a possible commitment to non-aggression and to refrain from seizing Odessa and Mykolaiv as a “concession” by Russia in future negotiations, although at present Russian forces have no real opportunity to capture these cities.
On December 3, the deputy chairman of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma, Alexei Zhuravlev, said that recently Russian commanders have not publicly reported on activity in the Kherson direction, as Russian troops are “deliberately” not stepping up their offensive there. According to him, Russia “could certainly” increase pressure in the area and subsequently launch an offensive against Odessa and Mykolaiv, so that Ukraine “does not have other large cities on the Black Sea coast”.
Zhuravlev added that occupied Crimea could be used as a starting point for similar operations both on land and at sea. He also claims that the Ukrainian authorities discriminate against the Russian-speaking population in Odessa, Kherson and Mykolaiv, and that residents of Odessa and Mykolaiv regions would vote to “join” Russia if referendums were held. He thus recalls the fake plebiscites organized by Moscow in 2022 in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions in order to justify the illegal annexation.
According to ISW, high-ranking Kremlin officials, including Putin himself, have recently revived long-standing Russian narratives of claims to Odessa and Mykolaiv.
The institute has no evidence that Russian forces have surrounded Mirnograd (east of Pokrovsk), despite the claims of some Ukrainian sources. According to ISW, Ukrainian forces continue to maintain limited ground lines of communication with Pokrovsk and Mirnograd.
Russia also appears to have launched a new information campaign aimed at spreading narratives of preparing an offensive against the city of Chernihiv amid ongoing peace talks.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have recently advanced in the areas near Aleksandrovka and Khulyaypole. Russian forces have noted advances near Velikiy Burluk, Kupyansk, Liman, Siversk, and Novopavlovka in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkovka tactical zone.