President Putin warns Ukraine

Tổng thống Putin cảnh báo Ukraine - 1 — Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Reuters).

"It is now clear that not only has Ukraine's counteroffensive failed, but Russia has taken full control of the battlefield. If this situation continues, the Ukrainian state may suffer a serious blow from which it will be unable to recover," President Putin said in a televised speech on January 16.

According to Mr. Putin, Ukrainian officials must bear full responsibility for this because it is a direct result of their policies and decisions.

The Kremlin leader also said that calls for negotiations were just "an attempt to make Russia give up the achievements it has made over the past two years.

Mr Putin rejected the "peace formula" being discussed by the West and Ukraine. "However, it is impossible. Everyone understands that it is impossible," the Russian leader stressed, rejecting Western demands that he said were unrealistic.

Mr. Putin noted that the head of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation recently admitted that at one point Kiev was ready to reach an agreement to end the conflict with Ukraine, but then canceled the agreement and withdrew from the negotiations when heeding the advice of then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Putin’s comments come as Western allies and partners appear increasingly skeptical of Ukraine’s ability to win on the battlefield, and are said to have begun pressuring Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table with Moscow.

According to Russian estimates, after nearly two years of conflict, about 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and wounded, including 125,000 soldiers lost in the counter-offensive campaign from early June to late November last year.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted yesterday that the situation on the battlefield is extremely difficult for the Ukrainian army.

"The situation on the ground is extremely difficult. Russia is attacking on multiple fronts and of course the major offensive that Ukraine launched last summer has not produced all the results that we expected," Mr. Stoltenberg said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We can now see how Russia is building up its forces and stepping up its attacks. We should not underestimate it," he stressed.

Ahead of the World Economic Forum, Switzerland hosted a conference with more than 80 countries and international organizations to discuss Ukraine's "peace formula." Russia was not present.

The Kremlin said that talks in Davos on Ukraine's "peace formula" would not produce results without Russia's participation.

"Without our participation, any discussions have no prospect of yielding any results," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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