Russian President Vladimir Putin insists Moscow will seize claimed Ukrainian territories, as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict continue.
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has declared Russia will “certainly” achieve its goals in Ukraine, including seizing the territories it claims to have annexed.
“The goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved,” Putin told defence officials on Wednesday, using the Kremlin’s term for the nearly four-year offensive.
He stated a preference for a diplomatic resolution to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict”.
Putin vowed to take the claimed Ukrainian lands “by military means” if Kyiv and its allies refuse substantive talks.
His comments follow two days of security talks between Ukrainian and US envoys in Berlin.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky noted “progress” on future security guarantees but said differences remain over potential territorial concessions.
A preliminary US proposal, drafted without European input, suggested Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region.
It would have seen Washington de facto recognise Russian control over Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk.
The contents of a revised plan are currently unclear.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is awaiting information from the US on the Berlin talks’ outcome.
In September 2022, Russia claimed to have annexed Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson regions.
It did not have full military control over all these areas at the time.
