Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked to hear proposals from the army’s military high command on how to continue the campaign in Ukraine. Reuters reports.
The Kremlin has released video footage of Putin’s visit to the joint headquarters of military branches involved in the so-called “special military operation”.
They show the Russian president presiding over a meeting with a dozen people seated around a round table. Next to him were Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, both the subject of harsh criticism by the most uncompromising commentators.
Putin was then shown to another conference table at headquarters, inviting those present from the military command to make suggestions how to continue hostilities in the short and medium term in the future.
Photos of the meeting posted on the Kremlin’s website show that the Air Force general was also present at the meeting. Sergey Surovikinwho is also the commander-in-chief of all Russian troops participating in the fighting in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told “Interfax”. Putin spent all day yesterday at headquarters. No further details about the visit, including where the venue is located, were released.
Ukrainian officials suggest so The Kremlin is desperate for victoriesto keep the Russian public on their side after suffering a series of military setbacks, including retreat from the southern city of Kherson, occupied at the beginning of the war.
Military analysts warn that a winter standoff could be on the way, even as fierce fighting continues, particularly in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces attempt to capture the city of Bakhmut.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Russia to withdraw its troops by Christmas as a first step towards a peace agreement after nearly ten months of war.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the proposal, saying that there will be no peace with Kyiv, until Zelensky accepts the new realities, namely Russian control over the four Ukrainian regions that MOsqua annexed in September after the “referendums” denounced as coercive and illegal by Kiev, the West and most of the UN countries.
He also pointed it out Russia has not received any proposals from Kiev for a “Christmas ceasefire” in Ukraine and fighting will continue throughout the winter.
