Moscow wants ‘lasting peace' with Kiev
In a video released by journalist Pavel Zarubin, Putin stated that Russia has 'enough strength and resources to bring what was started in 2022 to its logical conclusion' while accomplishing Moscow's key goals.
Russia wants to 'eliminate the causes that caused this crisis, create conditions for long-term sustainable peace and ensure the security of the Russian state and the interests of our people in those territories that we always talk about,' he added. The president was apparently referring to Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye, which overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining Russia in referendums in 2014 and 2022.
People in these former Ukrainian territories 'consider Russian to be their native language' and see Russia as their homeland, he said.
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