Putin says he wants to end the war in Ukraine ‘as soon as possible’
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the address "On the conduct of a special military operation" on February 24, 2022. Photo: Presidential Executive Office of Russia (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP). CC BY 4.0.
The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said Friday that his government is doing “everything it can” to conclude “as soon as possible” the war in Ukraine, initiated in February by a military invasion ordered by Moscow. This is what he has conveyed at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, after the latter has expressed his “concerns” about the invasion on different occasions.
“I know your position on the conflict in Ukraine and the concerns you frequently express. We will do everything possible to bring it to an end as soon as possible,” Putin has told Modi at a meeting in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, where the event is being held.
This is how he responded to Modi’s statements at the summit: “I know that now is not the time for wars and we have talked about it, in particular during our telephone conversations.”
Putin says he wants Ukraine war to end as quickly as possible. But it may end more quickly than he thinks if his generals decide that he 'needs a rest'. Russian troops are on the back foot everywhere as of Sept 18, so its only a matter of time pic.twitter.com/gPUI4lMQS9
— Christopher🇺🇦🇬🇧🇺🇸🌊🏳️🌈 (@westworld73) September 17, 2022
In turn, Putin has stated that it is “the other side”, the Ukrainian side, which rejects negotiations in the hope of winning “on the battlefield”, according to the TASS news agency. The Russian president has promised to keep Modi abreast of how the conflict is evolving.
Both leaders have coincided at the summit of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also present.
This meeting comes at a time when Russia is going through its lowest moments on the battlefield, after the Ukrainian counteroffensive has allowed Kiev to regain “about 6,000 square kilometers” of territory in the east and south of the country, according to the president, Volodymir Zelenski.
The advance of Ukrainian troops into territories long controlled by Russia has allowed Kiev soldiers to find two mass graves with more than 600 corpses in Izium and ten torture chambers in different areas of Kharkov.
-Thailand News (TN)
