Putin announced total destruction? "Ukraine is suffering"

One sentence in a new interview on Russian state television exposed the thinking of President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine is currently suffering on several fronts. The army of the attacked country receives too few weapons and too little ammunition. What logic follows, Putin stated in an interview with Russian propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov, reports the German portal Oe24.at.

"If we were to negotiate now just because they are running out of ammunition, that would be ridiculous," Putin said.

This one sentence clearly shows that the Russian president will use any military weakness to attack and achieve his goal - the destruction of Ukraine, according to the Austrian website Oe24.at.

• Putin's interview

Ahead of the 15-17 presidential elections in March, the first three-day event in the country, Putin gave an interview to the Russian media - "Russia 1" and "RIA Novosti" - which was published on Tuesday.

In it, he presented his vision of relations with the West, and talked about war and peace, including allegations that Russia is "ready" for nuclear war. He warned that if US troops were deployed in Russia or Ukraine, it would be seen as US intervention in the war he declared two years ago.

"Russia 1" channel journalist Kiselyov asked Putin what "price" Russia is ready to pay for the "challenge" it faces during the "special military operation" in Ukraine. The war is estimated to have cost Russia at least 315,000 soldiers killed and wounded during the two years of the war in Ukraine.
 

• The price of waging war 

According to CNBC, in the interview, Putin covertly acknowledged the human casualties of the war, but said that Russia had to protect its "citizens" in Ukraine, especially in the four regions annexed by Moscow in September 2022.

Tanjug/Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

"Look, every human life is priceless, every single one. Losing a loved one for a family, any one, is a great sadness. But if we abandon these people today, then tomorrow our losses could be multiplied, and our children will have no future because we will feel insecure, we will be a third- or fourth-class country, nobody will count on us if we cannot protect ourselves. And the consequences could be catastrophic for Russian statehood," Putin said.

• Peace negotiations

He reiterated the position that Russia is ready for peace negotiations with Kyiv, but that they must be based on reality - that is, the Russian perception that the annexed regions of Ukraine are now part of Russia - and he wants security guarantees that NATO will not expand into the attacked neighboring country.

"Are we ready for negotiations? Yes, we are ready. However, only for negotiations that are not based on some 'wishes and dreams' due to the use of psychotropic drugs, but based on the realities that have appeared, as they say in such cases, on the field," Putin said.

Defense analysts say Moscow and Kyiv are a long way from peace talks, while the war remains in a "hot," active phase, although Russia appears keen to show a willingness to talk, especially as Ukraine struggles on the battlefield amid manpower and ammunition shortages.