President Vladimir Putin said today that Russia does not want Ukraine to capitulate, but wants Kiev to recognize the reality of the situation on the battlefield, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
“We do not want Ukraine to capitulate. We insist on recognizing the reality that has developed on the ground“, Putin said at the international economic forum in St. Petersburg.
Putin said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people “and in this sense, all of Ukraine is ours“.
Russia has never questioned Ukraine's right to sovereignty, he said at the same time, but noted that when Ukraine declared its sovereignty in 1991 it did this “as a neutral state“.
"Of course, there are people, and not a few, in the neighboring country who seek to ensure their sovereignty, independence, and may God grant them health. We, by the way, have never questioned the right of the Ukrainian people to independence and sovereignty. At the same time, the grounds on which Ukraine became independent and sovereign were set out in the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, where it is clearly, in black and white, written that Ukraine is a non-aligned, non-nuclear, neutral state“, the Russian president said.
Putin, who says that Russia is fighting in Ukraine to protect its own security, also answered a question about Russia's military goals.
“We have a saying or a parable“, he pointed out. “Where the foot of Russian soldiers steps, it becomes ours“.
Kiev and its Western allies reject Moscow's claims to four Ukrainian regions and Crimea, calling them illegal, Reuters reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.
Putin said Russian forces were establishing a buffer zone in Ukraine's Sumy region to protect Russian territory and did not rule out the possibility that Russian troops could establish control over the region's capital, the city of Sumy.
According to the Russian president, Russia does not have any evidence that Ukraine will use a so-called “dirty bomb“ against Russia. "If Ukraine ever uses a dirty bomb against Russia, it would probably be their last mistake," he said.
Putin rejected claims that Russia is not a reliable ally because it does not help Iran, and said that people who say such things are provocateurs.
The Russian president said that Russia had shared unspecified ideas with Israel and Iran on how to end the bloodshed, adding that he believed there was a possibility of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. He said Russia was in contact with "our Israeli and Iranian friends" and Moscow's proposals were currently being discussed.
Putin also said that US President Donald Trump had promised to support legitimate Russian demands to ensure the safety of workers at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.