St Petersburg, June 5, (dpa/GNA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, reiterated his demand for full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a condition for peace with Ukraine, during a meeting with foreign news agencies in St Petersburg on Thursday.
On the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), he told international news organizations that the territorial requirement does not contradict his stated willingness to engage in dialogue with Kiev. “We are undoubtedly prepared to reach an agreement with Ukraine,” he said. He added that any settlement must be based on the agreements reached during talks with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last year. No concrete outcomes from those talks were ever made public.
Putin repeated long-standing claims about the war, saying, Russian forces were advancing on multiple fronts. Putin portrayed Ukraine as facing acute troop shortages, saying monthly losses and desertions greatly exceeded recruitment.
Putin put Ukraine’s shortfall at about 30,000 men per month, including what he described as 15,000 forcibly mobilized recruits.
These figures differ significantly from Kiev’s official estimates, which say more than 30,000 new personnel are recruited each month. To justify his demand for the entirety of the eastern Donbas region, Putin also pointed to what he described as continued Russian gains. He claimed Russian forces had captured 2,440 square kilometres of territory this year. That figure is significantly higher than estimates by Ukrainian military observers, who calculate that Russian forces have taken just under 700 square kilometres since the start of the year, albeit while continuing to advance at a slow pace.
Putin also said Russia had no objection to a proposal floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for an “associate member” status of EU membership for Ukraine. “That is none of our business. We are not against it,” Putin said. Moscow had no objections to economic ties and integration on the European continent, he added. However, he said Russia opposed what it sees as the transformation of the European Union into a military bloc. “We are against the EU turning into a military bloc,” Putin said, arguing that such developments raise concerns in Russia.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the EU and its member states have provided extensive military and financial support to Ukraine. Discussions have also intensified in Europe about closer defence cooperation amid uncertainty over the future US military presence on the continent.
Moscow is using its flagship forum to showcase Russia on the international stage and, despite slowing economic growth, to project resilience after more than four years of war in Ukraine and Western sanctions. According to the Kremlin, around 20,000 participants from more than 100 countries have registered for the forum.
GNA