Russian dictator Vladimir Putin made a number of statements concerning international politics and the war in Ukraine during the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club on October 1. He tried to absolve his country of responsibility for the peace talks that had reached an impasse and added: "the Russian Federation believes it will liberate the entire territory of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' much earlier than Ukraine and Europe expect," UNN reports.
In addition, Putin tried to convince his compatriots and the international community of the significant successes of the Russian Armed Forces on the battlefield.
What Putin said during the discussion club meeting
Putin tried to convince people that Russia allegedly sought to end the war against Ukraine as soon as possible through negotiations. At the same time, however, he confirmed that Moscow was not abandoning its key demands, including Ukraine's neutral status.
"We would like to end this (the war — ed.) as soon as possible, preferably through negotiations," he said.
At the same time, both Putin himself and his entourage repeatedly put forward demands on the Ukrainian side as part of the talks that are technically impossible to fulfill. For example, the Russian side has consistently and stubbornly demanded that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy come specifically to Moscow. This is despite the fact that, among others, countries in the East and Turkey have repeatedly expressed their readiness to serve as a venue for peace talks.
The Russian dictator also stated that Ukraine's neutral status remains among Moscow's goals. According to his version, Russia had previously viewed Ukraine as a neutral state, but the situation changed after Ukraine's Constitution enshrined a course toward NATO membership. In practice, Putin once again confirmed that he wants to deprive Ukraine of independence on the international stage and prevent it, as a sovereign state, from making decisions about its own future.
Putin also outlined Moscow's position on the American proposals concerning the end of the war. According to him, they include decisions that are difficult for the Russian side and require compromises. Overall, however, the Kremlin views them as movement toward a possible settlement. However, the Russian leader did not specify exactly which decisions he was referring to. It is entirely possible that he meant potential compromises regarding the end of the war, which he discussed during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage. At the time, Moscow officially claimed that it had agreed with a number of approaches proposed by the American side, although no public comprehensive agreement was announced following the talks.
The Russian dictator separately accused Ukraine of being unwilling to suspend hostilities. He stated that he had allegedly been ready to resume the negotiating process immediately after Russia's parliamentary elections in September, but linked the absence of such dialogue to Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation and on regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia. Putin claimed that Ukrainian servicemen had allegedly deliberately targeted members of electoral commissions, resulting in the deaths of six people. It should be emphasized that Russia's authorities' claim that the strikes specifically targeted members of electoral commissions has not received independent confirmation.
At the same time, Putin spoke about the voting for the State Duma held in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The United Nations emphasized that such electoral processes in occupied Ukrainian territory have no legal basis and do not alter its internationally recognized status.
Putin also stated that, in Moscow's view, a possible peace settlement should address the Russian language and the activities of the church in Ukraine. Russia had previously repeatedly included linguistic, religious, and political issues in its list of demands toward Kyiv.
Putin announced an acceleration of the Russian forces' offensive
During his speech, Vladimir Putin also stated that the pace of the Russian army's advance was allegedly increasing. According to his claim, during September alone, Russian troops established control over 1,301 square kilometers of territory, which he described as approximately 2.5 times greater than the figure for the previous months.
In addition, the Russian leader emphasized that, allegedly, approximately 11% of the territory of Donetsk region, which Moscow illegally incorporated into the Russian Federation, remains under Ukraine’s control. According to him, the Russian leadership believes that the Russian armed forces will be able to seize this territory sooner than Ukraine and European countries expect. However, such statements contradict the actual course of events. In particular, Ukrainian troops are currently successfully conducting Operation "Vivaldi" and liberating occupied territories. The Russians themselves, according to assessments by a number of analysts, have "become bogged down" in Donetsk region and have no progress to boast about.
In his monologue, Vladimir Putin also referred to allegedly existing assessments in Ukraine and Europe according to which Ukrainian forces could hold these territories for another one and a half to two years. However, he did not name the sources of these assessments.
We would like to remind you
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin called the proposal to stop attacks on vessels in the Black Sea in exchange for Ukraine refraining from attacking Russian oil refineries senseless.