Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
President Vladimir Putin to say Russia he wants to end the war Ukraine and asked for a diplomatic solution.
Putin considers the escalation of hostilities only to cause unjustified losses. According to him, all armed conflicts must end in a diplomatic and negotiated solution.
“I have said it many times: the intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses,” Putin told reporters in Moscow on Thursday (12/22).
“Our goal is not to turn the wheel of military conflict, but on the contrary, to end this war. We will try to end this (war), obviously the sooner the better,” he added.
Putin’s statement, seen as at odds with what is happening on the battlefield, comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
In Zelensky’s first overseas trip since the Russian invasion, Biden said the US was disbursing nearly IDR 28 trillion in additional aid to Ukraine, including sending the Patriot missile system that Kyiv craved.
In response to this, Putin downplayed the fact that US Patriot missiles would have a significant impact on the Ukrainian military’s resistance to its troops. Putin says his soldiers will find a way to fight him.
“So those who do it are in vain, they will only prolong the conflict,” Putin allegedly said Reuters.
Putin further said that Russia has always been open to negotiations. Instead, he accused Ukraine of refusing dialogue.
“All armed conflicts end in one way or another with some kind of negotiation on the diplomatic path,” Putin said.
“Sooner or later, any side in a state of conflict will sit down and make a deal. The sooner that awareness reaches those who oppose us, the better. We have never given up,” he said.
Kiev suspects that this tactic was used by Putin to buy time after the withdrawal of Russian troops in Ukraine since early September.
Zelensky’s government says it has never closed the door to dialogue with Putin.
However, this must be done on the condition that Russia stops all attacks and cedes all Ukrainian territory it has captured since its invasion nearly 11 months ago.
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