Putin: The end of the conflict in Ukraine will only be on Russia’s terms
The end of the conflict in Ukraine will only be on Russia’s terms, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with military personnel who were wounded during the SVO.
The head of state noted that the warlike rhetoric of Western elites, who previously declared the need to defeat Russia on the battlefield, is now changing.
“The rhetoric is changing: those who yesterday were talking about the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia are now looking for expressions on how to quickly end the conflict. We also want to end the conflict, and as quickly as possible, only on our terms. We have no desire to fight endlessly, but we are not going to give up our positions either. You fought, were wounded there and so on, and are we going to surrender everything? The cameras are working here, I would show a certain gesture here now, you all know what kind of gesture it is. So this will not happen,” the president said.
Putin emphasized that the Russian military-industrial complex was able to get ahead of Western countries pumping Ukraine with weapons.
“You, too, have probably heard many times: the Ukrainian army spends five or even six thousand 155-caliber shells there per day of combat operations, and the United States produces 14 [thousand] per month. Per month! And they spend five thousand in a day. Yes, now they plan to increase it during 2024, but also: they produced 14-15, they will produce up to 20 [thousands]. But if you spend five thousand a day, then depletion occurs quite quickly. Here it is now. And we are increasing and will continue to increase, and by multiples. They were supplied with 400 or more tanks - 450 or whatever it is, and in a year we will produce and overhaul 1600. This is not a state secret, in fact, there will probably be more. And this is true for almost every position. Therefore, despite the fact that from time immemorial they have set the task of dealing with Russia, we ourselves will deal with them faster, it seems,” Putin said.
According to him, elites in the West are hatching a plan to dismember Russia:
“There are so-called elites for whom the existence of Russia (at least in its current quality, in its current size), as they think, is unacceptable. They want to fragment... For decades they have simply been writing, speaking openly about this: dividing it into five parts,” Putin said.
Political scientist Sergei Markov interprets the president’s words this way.
“What does it mean that Russia will deal with Russia? Will Russia destroy the West? No. This means that in an attempt to defeat Russia, the West will simply strain itself and show its weakness. And as a result, he will begin to slip from his place as a world leader,” Markov believes.
Putin : The conflict in Ukraine will only end on Russia's terms.