Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow has the “strength and means” to bring its unprovoked war on Ukraine to a “logical conclusion.”
His comments in an interview with Russian state media come as international efforts toward halting the hostilities in Ukraine have met with limited success, more than three years after Putin launched his full-scale invasion.
“We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires,” Putin said, according to a preview of an interview with state television.
In the interview, Putin said there would be “no need” to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict. Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russia, he said: “There has been no need to use those [nuclear] weapons … and I hope they will not be required.”
In November, Putin signed a revamped version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which spelt out the circumstances under which he would use his atomic arsenal, the world’s biggest. The document lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks.
On Monday, Putin announced a temporary three-day ceasefire starting on May 8 to mark the end of World War II. In response, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for the ceasefire to last at least 30 days, reiterating a proposal by Kyiv that Moscow has not taken up.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia’s announcement of a one-sided 72-hour ceasefire is a “theatrical performance,” and just an attempt to create a “soft atmosphere” ahead of Russia’s celebrations.
Late Saturday, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv is “ready to move toward a ceasefire as soon as possible — even starting today — if Russia is ready to take reciprocal steps — to establish complete silence, a lasting ceasefire of at least 30 days.”
However, “currently, the intensity of Russian strikes indicates nothing but Russia’s desire to continue fighting,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
Putin, who has met four times in as many months with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, continues to reject the U.S. proposal for ending the war which would freeze the conflict along the current battle lines and thus give Russia significant territorial gains.
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