From the transcript of the gathering of Russian president Vladimir Putin with the crew of the cruiser "Archangielsk", 27 March 2025.
W. Putin: Gradually, not as fast as any would like, but we are stubbornly and consistently aiming to accomplish all the goals that were set at the beginning of the peculiar military operation.
We were not authors and initiators of the start of war. They started after the coup in Ukraine in 2014, which was supported by Western countries. And after that, the war began in southeastern Ukraine.
We were not authors and initiators of the start of war. They started after the coup in Ukraine in 2014, which was supported by Western countries. And after that, the war began in southeastern Ukraine.
For 8 years, we have tried to solve these issues, these problems in a peaceful way. We were forced to take the Crimean, Crimean and Sevastopoln people into protection, as well as for a very long time and persistently tried to solve the Donbas issues peacefully.
As it later turned out, both the Ukrainian authorities and their western guardians were fundamentally behind us. The erstwhile French president Hollande and Mrs Merkel, the erstwhile German Chancellor, explicitly stated, publically and without embarrassment, that they needed these Minsk agreements only to arm the Ukrainian government again and prepare it for war against us. But for 8 years people surviving in the territory of Donbas – Lugansk and Donetsk were subjected in a literal sense to genocide. Western curators of the Ukrainian government preferred not to announcement this. This forced us to effort an armed end to the war that began in 2014. We didn't start it.
Even by the way, erstwhile the armed conflict took on specified a hot phase in 2022, we continued to offer a peaceful solution to all issues. Moreover, as I have said many times, we have reached an agreement with Ukraine during the negotiations in Istanbul. In addition, we have reached agreement on those issues which are very frequently interpreted as impossible – denazification and demilitarisation issues. In fact, we have besides agreed on these issues. It's all in the draft document. The extract of this paper was initialled by the head of the negotiating group from Ukraine. They initialed it, signed it, which means everything was satisfactory.
Their curators from Europe, in peculiar from the UK, erstwhile Prime Minister Johnson, then arrived, and convinced Ukrainian leadership that it was essential to proceed the armed conflict until the last Ukrainian to ask Russia a strategical defeat.
What is happening present is actually besides clear. Our troops have strategical initiative throughout the contact line. Not so long ago I said "we will push them down" and there are reasons to believe that we will defeat them. I think the Ukrainian people themselves should realise what is happening.
The Luhansk People's Republic is liberated in 99 percent and the Republic of Donetsk, the Kherson and Zaporosian circuits – in more than 70 percent. Our soldiers decision forward and release 1 territory after another each day, 1 village after another.
Question. Today, the world's attention is focused on negotiations between Russia and the United States. I would like to learn firsthand about the course of negotiations and, perhaps, about their results.
W. Putin: Pay no attention to this, just do your job, do your job.
It's a joke. I realize that everyone in the planet and in our country is watching closely. Therefore, I would first of all like to say that, in my view, the fresh president of the United States sincerely wants to end this conflict for many reasons – I will not even mention them now, there are many. But I think it is simply a sincere desire.
It is clear that the conflict I have been talking about and to which I have just presented a brief description of what has happened in the fresh past is inactive complicated and requires careful discussion and approach.
We are in favour of resolving all these issues by peaceful means, and I just said that we were doing one, 2 and 3 from the beginning.
We are so in favour of resolving these issues by peaceful means, but at the same time eliminating the root causes that led to the current situation. We must, of course, guarantee the safety of Russia in the long word of history. We will welcome any step to address this problem and work with any partner who seeks to do so. This is not only the United States, but besides the People's Republic of China, India, Brazil, South Africa, all the BRICS countries and many others, specified as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with which we have signed the treaty, a 4th article that tells a lot about how and what we should do and support each other. We besides cooperate with this country in the military-technical and military spheres.
Incidentally, we are besides ready to work with Europe, but they simply behave inconsistently, constantly trying to deceive us. But we're utilized to it. I hope we do not make mistakes based on excessive trust in our alleged partners.
But in general, there's a problem we're talking about, but briefly, and I'm talking about it myself. What is it? The point is, from the very beginning after the dissolution of the russian Union, the Nazis had a very large influence in the country, in Ukraine, as they are called in Ukraine, nationalists – people with neo-Nazi views, and we did not invent it. What's interesting is that there's not quite a few people who remember that now.
Such people gain more and more weapons, more and more supporters, and put others under arms, imposing their views on them.
What does that lead to? This leads to the fact that civilian authorities are not actually legal under the Ukrainian Constitution. The presidential election was not held, and the constitution is written in specified a way that all are appointed by the President, including regional authorities, governors are appointed and so on. If he's illegal, everyone else is.
Thus, under the conditions of this actual illegality neo-Nazi formations receive additional weapons and recruit fresh people into their ranks. What does that lead to? That the actual power is in their hands. And this in turn means that it is not clear who to sign the papers with and it is not clear what authority they have, due to the fact that next day there will be another leaders who will pass the election and say, "We do not know who signed it, goodbye."
These neo-Nazi formations – specified as “Azov”, and there are others – actually begin to direct the country. And the question is: what to do, how to negociate with them?
In specified cases, however, global practice follows a well-known way – in the framework of the United Nations peacekeeping activities, there have already been respective times what is called external management, temporary administration. This was the case in East Timor, most likely in 1999, in any parts of the erstwhile Yugoslavia, in fresh Guinea. Generally, there is specified a practice.
And, of course, we could discuss the anticipation of introducing a temporary administration in Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations with the United States, even with European countries, of course with our partners and friends. For what purpose? In order to carry out democratic elections, take over power by a government that is capable and trusted by people and then start negotiations with them on a peace treaty, sign legal papers that will be recognised worldwide and reliable and stable.
It's just 1 option, I'm not saying there's no other. No, they exist. You just can't kind things out now, or possibly it's even impossible, due to the fact that the situation is changing fast, but it's 1 of the options. There is this practice in the work of the United Nations and I have already mentioned respective examples.
But in general, we welcome the resolution of any conflict, including peace measures. Not at the expense of our business.
Behind the Russian Federation Embassy in Poland.
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