(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 12 that peace talks in the Russo-Ukrainian War have hit a “dead end,” but he has “no doubt” that Russia will achieve its war aims.
The fighting in Ukraine “will continue to its complete end,” Putin said, because the Ukrainian negotiators changed their positions during talks in Turkey on March 29, reported the Washington Examiner.
“We reached a certain level of agreements in Istanbul, which stated that security guarantees for Ukraine … would not spread to Crimea, Sevastopol, and Donbas,” Putin said.
“We acted to create conditions to continue talks. Instead, we faced the provocation in Bucha, and, what’s most important, the Ukrainian side deviated from the Istanbul agreements.”
Putin said NATO and German intelligence spread “fake” rumors of war crimes in Bucha to rally support for the Ukrainian cause, and he denied the allegation that Russia used chemical weapons during the siege of Mariupol.
He said the West’s “provocation” must stop. The The United Nations General Assembly also voted to remove Russia from the body.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 10,000 civilians died last week during the siege.
Shortly after the invasion, Russian forces surrounded Kyiv but met solid resistance. After a month without progress, the Russian military withdrew from the region to focus on the fight in the eastern Donbass region, particulary Mariupol, a port city.
On the eve of the invasion, Putin declared the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic to be independent from Ukraine. The security of the majority Russian-speaking territories now appear to be his main goals.
Putin said the invasion’s “main goal” is “to help people” in eastern Ukraine, who have faced persecution from Ukrainians. The Russian forces will “move rhythmically, calmly” until the war’s conclusion.
