Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia would never be forced to give up its gains, and that Ukraine’s statehood may suffer an “irreparable blow”if the war continues in its current form, reports “Reuters”.
Putin made his televised comments a day after Switzerland agreed to host a world summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Putin rejected “so-called peace formulas” that are being discussed in the West and in Ukraine, and what he called the “prohibitive demands” they entail.
“It is now abundantly clear that not only has Ukraine’s counteroffensive failed, but the initiative is entirely in the hands of the Russian armed forces. If this continues, Ukrainian statehood may suffer a serious, irreparable blow.”
Putin’s statements about the course of the war became more and more confident and aggressive in recent months, with Ukraine’s counteroffensive failing to make significant gains against well-entrenched Russian forces.
Russia currently controls 17.5% of Ukraine’s territory.
Putin said talks of negotiations were “an attempt to motivate us to give up profits, which we realized in the last year and a half. But this is impossible. Everyone understands that this is impossible“.
The peace formula proposed by Zelensky calls for restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukrainecessation of hostilities and withdrawal of Russian troops, among other points.
Russia says all negotiations will have to take into account the “new realities”created by her forces in place.
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