Russian President Vladimir Putin has said peace with Ukraine will only take place “when we achieve our objectives”.
He was fielding questions from journalists and ordinary Russians in his first marathon news conference since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Much of the largely choreographed event focused on what he calls the “special military operation in Ukraine”.
He insisted the situation was improving throughout the front line.
The hours-long “direct line” programme, televised by most major channels, began with President Putin telling Russians: “The existence of our country without sovereignty is impossible. It will simply not exist.”
He added that Russia’s economy was strong for a time of war and the topic of conversation quickly moved to Ukraine.
Putin said that “there will be peace [in Ukraine] when we achieve our objectives”. Those “objectives do not change”, he said, listing “denazification, demilitarisation and its neutral status”. These are themes he has highlighted from the start of the war.
At one point he revealed that Russia currently has a total of 617 000 troops fighting in Ukraine. He also claimed that on top of 300 000 people called up for service last year, another 486 000 have signed up voluntarily as contract soldiers.
“The stream of our men who are ready to defend the interests of the homeland with weapons in their hands is not diminishing,” he said. “Altogether there will be just under half a million men by the end of this year. Why do we need a mobilisation?”
He gave no number of military losses, but disclosed that children of people within his “close” circle have fought for so-called private military companies, and a number of people “close to me” have died.
A classified US intelligence report estimated this week that 315 000 Russian soldiers had been either killed or wounded since the war began – which it said was almost 90 per cent of Russia’s military personnel at the start of the invasion. (BBC)
