In a scathing address to parliamentary leaders more than four months after the war, Putin said the prospects for any negotiation would diminish the longer the conflict dragged on. “Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What can you say, let them try,” he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “We have heard many times that the West wants to fight us to the last Ukrainian. This is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it seems that everything is going that way.” Russia accuses the West of waging a proxy war against it, hammering its economy with sanctions and boosting the supply of advanced weapons to Ukraine. But while boasting that Russia had just hit its stride, Putin also hinted at the possibility of negotiations. “Everyone should know that, in general, we have not started anything seriously yet,” he added. “At the same time, we do not reject peace talks. But those who reject them should know that the further they go, the more difficult it will be for them to negotiate with us.” It was the first mention of diplomacy in weeks after repeated statements from Moscow that negotiations with Kyiv had completely broken down. Since invading Ukraine on February 24, Russian forces have seized large swathes of the country, including completing the seizure of the eastern region of Luhansk last Sunday. However, their progress was much slower than many analysts had predicted, and they were defeated in initial attempts to capture the capital, Kyiv, and the second city, Kharkiv. Prospects for a compromise appear remote as Ukraine, emboldened by Western support and the heavy losses it has inflicted on its rival in both men and equipment, has spoken of expelling Russia from all the territory it has seized. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter this week that his terms for resuming talks would include: “Cease-fire. Withdrawal of Z troops. Return of abducted citizens. Extradition of war criminals. Reparations mechanism. Recognition sovereign rights of Ukraine”. Putin said it was obvious that Western sanctions were creating difficulties, “but not at all what the initiators of the economic blitzkrieg against Russia were counting on.” Parliamentary leaders responded to Putin’s comments, and one, Sergei Mironov of the A Just Russia party, encouraged him to create a special agency to facilitate the integration of occupied Ukrainian territories into Russia – an idea Putin has promised to discuss. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reporting by Ronald Popeski. Editor: Leslie Adler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
