Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said his country would seek a peace deal in Ukraine that safeguards its own long-term security and would not retreat from the gains it has made in the conflict.
Putin made this statement while speaking with a group of Russian women who had lost loved ones during the three-year war in Ukraine.
The Russian leader also indirectly criticised French President Emmanuel Macron, stating that Western leaders should not underestimate the Russian people and should remember the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose invasion of Russia in 1812 ended in disaster.
“We must choose for ourselves a peace option that will suit us and that will ensure peace for our country in the long term,” he said.
When asked by the mother of a fallen soldier if Russia would retreat, Putin said he did not intend to do so.
It could be recalled that US President Donald Trump has upended Western policy on the Ukraine war, opening up bilateral talks with Moscow and pausing military aid to Kyiv after clashing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House last week.
In November, Putin was reportedly open to discussing a Ukraine peace deal with Trump but ruled out any major territorial concessions, insisting that Kyiv abandon its ambitions to join NATO.
Additionally, in comments made last summer outlining his terms for ending the war, Putin said Ukraine must withdraw all its forces from the entire territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and partly controlled by Russia.