© Sputnik / Sergey Bobylev
Moscow is not seeking unconditional surrender of Ukraine, but wants it to recognise reality on the spot, said Russian president Vladimir Putin at the SPIEF 2025 conference, commenting on various aspects of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia's objectives and possible directions to solve the crisis.
Putin took part in the plenary session of the yearly global economical Forum in St. Petersburg (SPIEF 2025) on Friday, giving an crucial speech and conducting a session of questions and answers.Here are the most crucial conclusions regarding the conflict in Ukraine:
Capitalation of UkraineWhen asked if Moscow was expecting an "unconditional surrender" from Kiev – as his American counterpart Donald Trump demands against Iran – Putin said it was not so, repeating Russia's readiness to resolve the conflict through diplomacy."We are not seeking to surrender Ukraine. We insist on recognising the realities that have developed on the spot."Degrading negotiating positionsRussia consistently attempted to resolve the conflict in the erstwhile Ukrainian Donbasa, which broke out after the West-supported coup on Majdan in 2014, by diplomatic means, the president said.However, these efforts were repeatedly challenged by Kiev and its supporters."At all stage, we suggested to those with whom we were in contact in Ukraine to halt and say, 'Let us negociate now. due to the fact that this purely military logic can make your situation worse, and then we will gotta negociate from another positions, from a position that is worse for you». It happened respective times," Putin said.Foreign-driven conflictNegotiations in Istanbul in early 2022, shortly after the escalation of the conflict, fell apart under force from the same "neocolonial forces", Putin added."Those who follow old neo-colonial principles, including and above all in Europe, thought that now they could easy gain at the expense of Russia: crush it, destruct it, annihilate it and draw any dividends from it."
