Vladimir Putin said in St. Petersburg that the Russian army could try to create a buffer zone. At the same time, he challenged the right of Ukraine to its own statehood.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on Friday marked the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg (Spief) for the “contempt” of the peace process. This is reported to TASR, according to the AFP report.
“Putin’s cynical statements show complete contempt for American peace efforts. The only way to force Russia to get rid of it is to get rid of the feeling of impunity,” wrote Sybiha on the social network X.
Russia claims the entire territory of Ukraine
At the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg Putin, he said he did not exclude an attempt to occupy the Ukrainian city as part of the creation of a buffer zone along the border. The Russian leader also renounced the right of Ukraine to his own statehood. At the same time, however, he said that Russia had never questioned the right of Ukraine to sovereignty.
“I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one nation. In this sense, the whole of Ukraine is ours. We have one proverb – where the Russian soldier enters, that’s ours,” said the leader of the Russian Federation. Sybiha described Putin’s statements as “confused” and called on the Allies Kiev to impose “devastating sanctions” on Russia.
In the past, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has accused Putin several times of delaying the peace process. The parties led the initial rounds of direct negotiations in May and June in Istanbul.