Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Russian troops might “finish off” the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to reports from Russian news agencies on Friday.
“I just recently said that we will ‘press’ them, but there is reason to believe that we will finish them off,” Putin stated during a meeting with the crew of the missile submarine Arkhangelsk in Murmansk.
He emphasized that Russian troops are holding the strategic initiative along the entire line of military contact. “Our troops are persistently and confidently moving towards achieving their goals,” he said.
Putin also expressed a willingness for peaceful resolutions. “Russia is in favor of peaceful solutions to any conflict, including this one, through peaceful means, but not at our expense,” he remarked, adding that the “root causes of the conflict must be eliminated.”
Furthermore, he proposed that Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to facilitate new elections and the signing of key agreements aimed at settling the conflict.
