Vladimir Putin has said Russia will not back down from its mission to “l(fā)iberate its historic lands” and predicted the European “swine” backing Kyiv would ultimately lose power, in a speech that showed no readiness to compromise on the goals for his invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s president told a gathering of senior defence ministry officials on Wednesday that his forces held the strategic advantage across the frontline and could step up their offensive almost four years into his full-scale invasion.
The comments underscored Putin’s unwillingness to end the war on any terms other than the maximalist goals he set out when he ordered the invasion in 2022, which sought to all but end Ukraine’s existence as an independent state.