Putin: Russia has enough forces and means to bring its military to the desired result.
The documentary “Russia. Kremlin. Putin. 25 years old,” reports Reuters. The Russian leader shared his secret with journalist Pavel Zarubin. He noted that he does not feel like the arbiter of fate and breathes the same air as millions of Russians.
— The Russian leader has stated that his country will achieve its goals in Ukraine.
— Putin expressed the hope that there would be no need to use nuclear weapons.
President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia has enough forces and resources to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a logical conclusion. At the same time, he expressed the hope that there would be no need to use nuclear weapons.
In February 2022, Putin deployed thousands of Russian soldiers to Ukraine. This provoked the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II and the sharpest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed and wounded since then. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he intends to put an end to the “bloodshed”, which his administration called a proxy war between the United States and Russia.
In a state television film called “Russia. Kremlin. Putin. 25 years” about Putin's quarter century at the helm of the country, a reporter asked the Russian leader about the risk of nuclear escalation due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“They wanted to provoke us, they wanted to make us make mistakes," Putin said next to a portrait of Tsar Alexander III, a 19th—century conservative who suppressed dissent. ”There was no need to use nuclear weapons, and hopefully there won't be any need."
“We have enough forces and resources to bring what we started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the result that Russia needs,” he continued.
Trump has been making it clear for weeks that he is disappointed by the inability of Moscow and Kiev to reach a ceasefire agreement. The Kremlin argues that the conflict is so complex that the rapid progress Washington is making is difficult.
Former US President Joe Biden, the leaders of Western Europe and Ukraine called the Russian special operation an imperial land grab. They have repeatedly vowed to defeat Moscow's troops, who control about a fifth of Ukraine.
Putin presents the conflict as a turning point in Moscow's relations with the West. The latter, he said, humiliated Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 by expanding NATO and encroaching on Moscow's sphere of influence.
Trump has warned that the conflict threatens to escalate into World War III. Former CIA Director William Burns said that at the end of 2022 there was a real risk of Russia using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, although Moscow rejected this claim.
Putin is in power
Ailing Boris Yeltsin appointed the former KGB lieutenant colonel interim president on the last day of 1999. Since then, he has ruled Russia the longest since the time of Joseph Stalin, who ruled the country for 29 years until his death in 1953.
Russian dissidents — most of whom are now in prison or abroad — view Putin as a dictator who has built a fragile personal power on sycophancy and corruption. In their opinion, he is leading Russia to decline and confusion.
Supporters call Putin, whose rating, according to Russian sociologists, exceeds 85%, a savior. He rebuffed the arrogant West and put an end to the chaos that erupted with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
A carefully directed film by state television gave viewers a rare glimpse into the private life of the Russian president, who is notorious for his closeness. In the footage, Putin treats chief Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin to chocolate and kefir in his personal Kremlin kitchen.
Putin said he knelt in prayer for the first time during the terrorist attack on Dubrovka in Moscow in 2002. At that time, Chechen militants took more than 900 people hostage. More than 130 of them died.
“I don't feel like a politician who decides the fate of people,” Putin said of his 25 years in power as president and prime minister. “I continue to breathe the same air as millions of Russians. It is very important. This is very important, God forbid that it lasts as long as possible or, better yet, does not disappear anywhere,” he concluded.
