Putin vows to achieve war goals, expand 'buffer zone'

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine by diplomatic or military means, and would seek to expand a 'security buffer zone' there. 'First, the goals of the special military operation will undoubtedly be achieved. We would prefer to do this and address the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy,' Putin said. 'If the opposing side and their foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means. The task of creating and expanding a security buffer zone will also be consistently addressed.'
Of the regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed as its own territory, it currently controls Crimea, around 90 per cent of the Donbas region and 75 per cent of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In addition, Russia holds some territory in the adjoining regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv. Putin's comments signalled that Moscow would seek further gains on some of these fronts. With the war at a key juncture as US President Donald Trump pushes hard for a quick peace agreement, Putin said Russia was advancing on all fronts. But his defence minister, Andrei Belousov, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were trying to take back control of the northeastern town of Kupiansk - an effort he said was not succeeding.
Putin said people in Europe were being indoctrinated with fears of a war with Russia, and accused their leaders of whipping up hysteria. 'I have repeatedly stated: this is a lie, nonsense, pure nonsense about some imaginary Russian threat to European countries. But this is being done quite deliberately,' he said. Putin has said Russia is not seeking war with Europe, but is ready for war if that is Europe's choice.
Meanwhile, finding a legal way to use frozen Russian assets to help finance Ukraine remains 'far from easy', Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday, ahead of a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels. Addressing parliament, Meloni said Italy backed efforts to make Moscow bear the costs of its attack on Ukraine, but warned that any mechanism must rest on firm legal foundations and avoid exposing countries to open-ended liabilities.
Italy is one of the EU's largest economies and its position on financing could sway the balance between countries pushing for bold measures to sustain Ukraine and those worried about legal blowback and market instability. 'Italy, of course, considers sacred the principle that Russia should primarily pay for the reconstruction of the nation it attacked, but this result must be achieved with a solid legal basis,' Meloni said. She added that she wanted clarity over the proposed use of Russian assets 'particularly those related to reputation, retaliation, or new, heavy burdens on national budgets'.
EU leaders are set to review proposals aimed at using proceeds from immobilised Russian sovereign assets, mostly held in Belgium, to support Ukraine's huge budget and defence needs — something Moscow fiercely opposes. The main problem still to be resolved is Belgium's demand that others in the 27-nation bloc share the financial risks if Russia were to successfully sue either Belgium or the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear, where they are held.
Meloni has consistently supported Ukraine following the Russian attack, reassuring Western allies who feared she might follow the pro-Moscow line of one of her coalition parties, the far-right League. Meloni on Wednesday said Russia was making 'unreasonable' demands in US-brokered peace discussions, singling out Moscow's insistence on controlling the entire Donbas region. 'Unlike what propaganda claims, the main obstacle to a peace agreement is Russia's inability to conquer the four Ukrainian regions that it unilaterally declared annexed in late 2022,' Meloni said, referring to the fact Moscow has demanded control over areas that it has failed to seize by arms. She added that significant progress had been made in recent talks in Berlin on security guarantees for Ukraine.
Ukraine controls nearly 90 per cent of the strategic northeastern town of Kupiansk, its military chief said on Wednesday, but Russia's defence minister said a Ukrainian counter-attack on the town had been unsuccessful. The chief of Russia's general staff told President Vladimir Putin last month that Russian forces had taken control of Kupiansk. Kyiv denied the town had changed hands and a Ukrainian commander said last week that Ukrainian forces had retaken parts of it in an operation that encircled Russian troops. — Reuters