There Will Be No Deal. Liberal Deciphers Putin's Speech at the Defense Ministry

The Russian army must maintain the current pace of advance in the SVO zone, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry board, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

"This is truly a turning point on the line of contact. And our military activity represents a complete seizure of the strategic initiative ... I very much hope that the momentum gained in recent months on the line of contact will be maintained," Putin said.

He specified that in 2023, “ over 300 thousand of our men came to military registration and enlistment offices and signed contracts ,” and “ this year, at the moment, already over 430 thousand ” – “ and this flow of volunteers is actually not stopping .”

"Putin said a turning point is happening in the LBS. He's never said anything like this before ," noted political scientist Pavel Danilin.

"Behind the scenes, the authorities are openly saying that 2025 will be the year of victory , and that's precisely why the 'Time of Heroes' program in the regions will begin next year," notes columnist Andrei Gusiy.

Liberal publicist Kirill Shulika, a former author of the closed Ekho Moskvy, interprets today's statements as follows:

"The Defense Ministry Board today demonstrated once again what we already generally understand. There will be no peace negotiations. The goals of the Central Military District will be achieved through military means. Every word spoken at the Board today was precisely that. All plans for developing the state's military component are aimed at a long-term confrontation, both in the Central Military District zone and against NATO in general. In the first case, we're talking about a hot phase, in the second, we're still in a cold phase, but that's for now. The armored train is sitting on the sidings."