Putin Rejects Kiev's Proposal to Limit Conflict Zone

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he rejected Ukraine's proposal to limit the conflict zone to only the newly joined regions and to cease mutual deep strikes. Putin stated that the purpose of this proposal is to save the Ukrainian army and redeploy its military forces, saying, “Saving the Kiev regime is not part of our plans.” In an interview with Russian media, Putin made critical statements about the Ukraine crisis and the current situation on the ground. He noted that the Kiev administration proposed limiting the conflict zone to only the regions recently joined by Russia and ceasing mutual attacks on deep areas behind the front lines. Putin drew attention to the military strategy behind this proposal. Putin said that Ukraine is experiencing a severe personnel crisis and is trying to gain time with this proposal.

If we accept this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have the opportunity to withdraw their troops from the regions of Nikolayev, Dnepropetrovsk, Harkov, and Sumi, as well as some sections of the state border, and redeploy them to these four regions. The Ukrainian army, which is experiencing a catastrophic personnel shortage, thinks this would be a salvation for them. However, saving the Kiev regime is not part of our plans. We will not give them this chance.

He also stated that Ukraine, having failed to achieve success on the battlefield, has resorted to terrorist methods and is targeting Russian infrastructure. Considering the West's arms shipments to Ukraine, Putin said they continuously improve their air defense systems:

We have all these protection tools. The main issue is to increase their production speed, deliver them to the troops, and protect critical infrastructure. Our top priority is to protect people.

Putin noted that the damaged infrastructure facilities are being rapidly repaired, and Kiev's goal with these attacks is to create division within Russian society and halt Russia's advance, but they have not achieved any military objectives. Putin emphasized that Russia's retaliatory strikes against Ukraine's depths are much stronger and serve the goal of completely liberating Donbas and Novorossiya. He also shared current battlefield data, stating that Russian troops are continuing their advance along the entire front line.