Russian President Putin delivered a speech at the 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum in Moscow, Russia, on May 24, 2023.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a wide-ranging interview to Russian media just days before the presidential election – which will put Putin in power for another six years – and there will be no miraculous change in the current course of Russian politics.
In an interview with pro-Kremlin media published on Tuesday, Putin laid out his vision for relations with the West, war and peace. Here are five comments he made ahead of the March 15-17 vote.
1) Russia is “technically” prepared for nuclear war
Putin once again eagerly pointed out that Russia is ready for nuclear war at both the technical and military levels.
“From a military-technical point of view, of course we are ready… (and) always in a state of combat readiness,” Putin told news channel Rossiya-1 in an interview. RIA Novosti Published on Tuesday.
Putin warned that the possibility of nuclear war was not a short-term prospect and cooler heads may prevail to prevent a “rush” from happening. Nonetheless, Putin said Russia would be ready to conduct a nuclear test if the United States wanted to.
2) The price Russia is willing to pay for Ukraine
Russia One reporter Dmitry Kiselev asked Putin what “price” Russia was prepared to pay for the “challenges” it faced in its “special military operations” in Ukraine. It is estimated that Russia lost at least 315,000 soldiers killed or injured in the two-year war in Ukraine. It does not publish such figures itself.
On March 18, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a concert held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Mikhail Klementiev | AFP | Getty Images
In an interview on Tuesday, Excerpts were widely published by RIA Novosti, Putin implicitly acknowledged the human toll of the war but said Russia must protect its “citizens” in Ukraine, particularly the four regions it claims to annex in September 2022.
“Look, every human life is priceless. For a family to lose a loved one is a great sadness for any family… (But) if we abandon these people today, then Tomorrow our losses may increase. If we cannot protect ourselves, then our children will have no future because we will feel insecure and we will become a third- or fourth-rate country and no one will consider us. The consequences may be this for Russia It’s catastrophic for the country’s status.”
3) Prospects of peace talks
Russia reiterated its position that it is ready for peace talks with Ukraine, but those talks must be based on reality – that Russia considers annexed areas of Ukraine to now be part of the Russian Federation – and hopes that NATO will win security guarantees not to be extended to include Ukraine.
“Are we ready to negotiate? Yes, we are ready,” Putin told Russia One reporter Kiselev before qualifying the sentence: “However, (we) are only ready to negotiate, not The negotiations were not based on some ‘wishes and dreams’ following the use of psychotropic drugs, but on the reality that had emerged, as they say in this case, on the ground,” he said.
Defense analysts say Russia and Ukraine are still far from peace talks while the war remains in an “intense” active phase, although Russia appears keen to show a willingness to negotiate, especially as Ukraine suffers from shortages of personnel and ammunition on the battlefield Struggling situation.
“It is a bit ridiculous for us to negotiate now just because they have run out of ammunition,” Putin said. “However, we are ready for serious dialogue and we want to resolve all conflicts, especially this one, through peaceful means.” . ”
4) Putin doesn’t trust anyone
Putin said that in order for Russia to enter meaningful peace talks, Russia must receive “security guarantees” – presumably that NATO would not include Ukraine. Russia says it has been assured by NATO that it will not expand eastward into Eastern Europe – one of its long-standing problems. NATO strongly denies that such an agreement has ever been reached.
Putin brought up the topic again in Tuesday’s interview, telling interviewers, “We have been promised everything many times. We have been promised not to expand NATO to the east, and then we see them on our borders. , “He said.
“I hate to say it, but I don’t trust anyone. We need guarantees. The guarantees have to be detailed, they have to be something that suits us and that we will believe… It’s probably too early to talk publicly about what this might be. Nothing, but we certainly won’t believe any empty promises.”
Early in the war, there was a perception that there was room for maneuver on the thorny issue of NATO membership, and the idea was to give Ukraine security guarantees rather than a future place in the Western military alliance. But the stance has hardened since earlier failed peace talks, with Nato indicating Ukraine could join the bloc in the future.
5) Red line
During the war, and even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, both sides talked about “red lines” many times. Although the boundaries of these ideological restrictions have changed (for example, Ukraine’s allies initially said they would not provide tanks or long-range missiles to Kiev, but some now do), there are still some “red lines” that appear to be a step Far away for both parties.
U.S. President Joe Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ludovic Marin | AFP | Getty Images
The latest issue is the possibility of NATO countries sending ground troops to Ukraine, a possibility raised by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said there were “no limits” to Paris’ support for Ukraine, refused to rule out sending ground troops to the country.
Moscow reacted strongly to the remarks, saying it would lead to an “inevitable” direct conflict between NATO and Russia. Other NATO members were also quick to distance themselves from the comments, saying there was no chance of sending ground troops.
Putin said in the latest interview that countries that claim there are no red lines against Russia “must understand that in Russia there will be no red lines against these countries.”
“Basically, based on what we see happening on the battlefield today, we are responding to the tasks we have set for ourselves. As for those countries that claim there are no ‘red lines’ towards Russia, they must understand that in Russia, these countries will not There are ‘red lines’.”
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