Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this Sunday that the country's Navy will add 30 new ships this year, as confirmed in a speech at the naval parade in Saint Petersburg on the occasion of Navy Day.
“Today, Russia confidently fulfills the large-scale tasks of its national maritime policy and constantly increases the power of its fleet.. This year alone, 30 ships of different classes will join its composition,” Putin said in a speech broadcast live on television.
From a rostrum installed on one of the embankments of the Neva River, the president, who previously reviewed the ships aboard a boat, congratulated the members of the Navy and all the citizens of Russia on the occasion of the Day of the Navy.
“For centuries our fleet has been and remains the indestructible guardian of the borders of the Motherland, its pride and glory,” Putin said, also thanking the Navy personnel for the impeccable fulfillment of their tasks and their devotion to Homeland.
“For the sake of Russia, our sailors give all their strength, show true heroism, fight bravely, like our great ancestors,” stressed the president, who did not make any direct reference to the war in Ukraine in his speech.
The naval parades on the occasion of Navy Day have been held this Sunday in the main ports of Russia. Nearly 40 ships, including boats and submarines, have participated in the St. Petersburg naval parade and in the Kronshtad roadstead, in the Neva Bay.
Putin rules out a ceasefire
On the other hand, the Russian leader affirmed on Saturday night that there cannot be a ceasefire at a time when the Ukrainian Army attacks, when commenting on the peace initiative of African countries in a meeting with Russian media.
“There are things that are difficult or impossible to do. For example, one of the points (of the African initiative) is a ceasefire. But the Ukrainian army is attacking, it is attacking, as they say, it is carrying out a major strategic offensive,” the president said, quoted by the official TASS news agency.
In these circumstances, he added, Russia cannot be asked for a ceasefire: “We cannot cease fire when they attack us.” At the same time, he has stressed that the Ukrainian troops have not made progress on any of the fronts.
“Everywhere the enemy has been stopped and repulsed,” Putin stressed, assuring that the Ukrainian forces suffer numerous casualties and that in some sectors the Russian troops go on the counteroffensive.
The president has once again insisted that Russia has never refused to enter into peace talks with Ukraine, which -he stressed- by decree has prohibited holding negotiations with Moscow.