Putin Vows No Retreat on Annexed Ukrainian Regions, Rejects Kyiv's Peace Proposal

Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russia will not back down from its military goal of fully occupying four Ukrainian regions. He rejected Ukraine's new proposal, presented as a way to de-escalate the conflict that has been ongoing for over four years.

In an interview with Russian state television, Putin highlighted the need to enhance air defense capabilities to counter Ukraine's intensified drone attacks, primarily targeting Russia's oil industry. He claimed that Russia is effectively managing the fuel supply issues caused by Ukrainian attacks. Earlier, at a meeting with government ministers and other officials at the Kremlin, Putin had acknowledged that these attacks had led to fuel shortages in various Russian regions, but stated that Russia was managing the situation.

In his television interview, Putin said Ukraine proposed mutual cessation of long-range attacks as a step towards peace. However, he clarified that Moscow views this proposal as a means to reduce pressure from Kyiv's forces along the 1250 km-long front line, and Russia will not be deterred by it.

Putin stated, 'It is clear why this proposal is being made, because our retaliatory strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are very powerful, more effective, and frankly, more destructive.' He suggested that the Ukrainian armed forces, facing severe troop shortages, might see this as their salvation, and made it clear that saving the Kyiv administration is not part of his plan.

There has been no immediate reaction from the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Putin's remarks. Zelenskyy had written an open letter to Putin earlier this month proposing a face-to-face meeting, which the Russian leader has already rejected.

According to Putin, the Ukrainian attacks are aimed at diverting Russia's attention and strength from the main objective of the full liberation of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Putin has long maintained the primary condition for any peace deal is that Ukraine must cede its remaining positions in the Donetsk region of Donbas. Seven months after the 2022 invasion, Russia announced the annexation of these four regions, which it partially controlled.

Speaking about Ukraine's medium and long-range drone campaign, Putin said the first priority is to rapidly and significantly increase the production of the most needed air defense systems. He claimed that attacks on infrastructure anywhere would not affect the situation at the front lines. Russia expects that diplomatic efforts led by the US will resume after the 'phase' of conflict between the US and Israel with Iran is resolved, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner expected to visit Moscow, Putin said. Agreeing with comments made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, Putin stated that although no formal agreement was reached during his talks with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last year, US proposals were discussed. He said, 'No one signed anything, but we talked about some possibilities for ending the conflict in Ukraine.'

Putin also indicated that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, with whom he held two days of talks this week, could assist in peace negotiations. He did not address Ukraine's accusations that Russia is seeking to further involve Belarus in the conflict.

Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory in February 2022, but Lukashenko has pledged not to send his troops into the war.