The war in Ukraine should end as quickly as possible, according to Vladimir Putin, who has stated that Russia is aiming for a swift resolution. The Russian President told reporters that his goal is to end the conflict. “The sooner, the better,” he added. This was the first time that Putin called it a “war” instead of calling it “a special military operation”.
The remark was made soon after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s famous trip to America. As part of the US’s largest commitment to Ukraine to date, US President Joe Biden increased arms shipments and pledged to provide Patriot surface-to-air missiles. The president of Ukraine received a high-profile VIP welcome from Biden on December 22.
By claiming that Russia would find a method to resist it, Putin downplayed the relevance of the Patriot air defence system that Biden promised to give to Zelenskiy. He said Russia would “crack” the Patriots. Putin also called the Patriot “quite old” and said such actions could only prolong the conflict.
Biden’s actions, according to Russia, have demonstrated that the US is at war indirectly with Russia. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, claimed that Biden and Zelenskyy had not demonstrated that they were prepared to hear Russia’s concerns. Zelenskyy was never warned for the ongoing shelling of populated areas in Donbas’ cities and villages, nor were any sincere pleas for peace heard, Peskov said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and its allies have expressed scepticism in response to Putin’s remarks about ending the war as soon as possible. According to White House spokesperson John Kirby, Putin has not shown the slightest sign of wanting to negotiate a resolution to the crisis, which began on February 24 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin, on the contrary, is acting in a way that suggests he wants to continue inflicting bloodshed on the people of Ukraine and exacerbate the conflict, he said.
Any parties engaged in conflict eventually sit down and reach a compromise, said the Russian president while adding that the sooner those who disagree with the Kremlin realises it, the better. He said that Russia had never “given up” on such possibilities.
