Ukraine crisis: Doing everything possible to solve problem peacefully with Ukraine, says Vladimir Putin
2 min read . Updated: 21 Feb 2023, 03:56 PM IST
Premium- However, he added that very different scenario was being prepared behind their back.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on 21 February said that his government is doing everything possible to solve the problem peacefully with Ukraine.
However, he added that very different scenario was being prepared behind their back.
Addressing the nation, the Russian President said, "We were doing everything possible to solve this problem peacefully, negotiating a peaceful way out of this difficult conflict, but behind our backs, a very different scenario was being prepared," adding, "Step by step, we will carefully and systematically solve the aims that face us."
Putin address to the nation comes ahead of the first anniversary of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine. He said, as reported by AFP, "I am speaking to you at a difficult and key moment for the country, at a time of profound changes everywhere in the world."
Blames West:
He also blamed the West for the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, after Kyiv's allies promised to send new weapons to Ukraine.
"The responsibility for fuelling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of victims.. lies completely with Western elites," the news agency quoted Putin.
On Western sanctions:
"They want to make the people suffer... but their calculation did not materialise. The Russian economy and the management turned out to be much stronger than they thought," Putin said.
On Biden visit to Ukraine:
On the issue of US President Joe Biden's visit in Ukraine on Monday, Putin said, "I want to emphasise that... no country in the world has as many military bases abroad as the United States. There are hundreds of them... around the world."
"The whole world has seen them withdraw from fundamental armaments agreements, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. They unilaterally tore apart the fundamental agreements that maintain world peace. Why did they do this? Just because they could, he added."
On Russian economy:
"We have already begun and will continue to build up a large-scale programme for the socio-economic recovery and development of these new subjects of the Federation (territory annexed from Ukraine). We are talking about reviving enterprises and jobs in the ports of the Sea of Azov, which has again become an inland sea of Russia, and building new modern roads, as we did in Crimea," Putin said.'
Fund for relatives of soldiers killed in Ukraine:
Putin pledged to provide relatives of Russian soldiers who have had died fighting in Ukraine with “targeted support" via a new special fund.
“We all understand, I understand how unbearably hard it is now for the wives, sons, daughters of fallen soldiers, their parents, who raised worthy defenders of the Fatherland," the Russian president said.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Tuesday where she is expected to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.