Putin hopes Ukraine will exhaust its men and weapons: "Then we'll see"

The Russian president is preparing for a long war in Ukraine. His vision of a future end to the fighting fits rather with a scenario prepared for Russian victory: “Only when Ukraine is exhausted in terms of men, equipment and ammunition will it be able to talk about peace.”.

Vladimir Putin does not see an armistice now.

According to their reasoning, Russia can hardly stop fighting when faced with a Ukrainian counteroffensive.. For there to be any chance of talks, Putin said, Ukraine would first have to lift its self-imposed legal ban on peace talks and explain what it wants: “Then we'll see,” Putin said..

The Russian leader criticized the West's decision to supply Ukraine with F-16 aircraft and any possible US supplies of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). But Putin said that regardless of who wins next year's US elections, he does not expect any change in Washington's policy towards Russia: “US authorities perceive Russia as an existential enemy.”. Putin explained that the West is trying to dissuade China from having close relations with Russia, but that these attempts have failed as ties with Beijing are at an unprecedented level.

Partially isolated since its large-scale invasion, Russia has turned towards Asia. Putin admitted that this turn was accelerated by the war and the West's attempt to contain the Russian economy..

Putin praised his central bank for keeping inflation at bay with double-digit interest rates and noted that there are no insurmountable challenges when it came to limiting ruble volatility.. The Russian leader, who faces presidential elections in March next year, used his speech at the Russian Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok to project an atmosphere of financial calm, just weeks after the ruble fell beyond 100 to the dollar provoked criticism from the Kremlin of the bank's monetary policy. Speaking to businessmen across the country, he promised there would be no sudden measures to limit such ruble volatility for now.

IN PRAGUE BAD, IN kyiv GOOD.

Looking back, Putin also noted that the Soviet Union's decision to send tanks to Hungary and Czechoslovakia to crush mass protests during the Cold War “was a mistake.”. The president gave his point of view on the perception of Russia as a colonial power due to Moscow's decision to send tanks to Budapest in 1956 and Prague in 1968..

Both interventions have similarities with Russia's attack on kyiv last year. The Hungarian uprising of 1956 was crushed by tanks and Soviet troops with a bloody outcome.. The Prague Spring of 1968 was an attempt at openness, within socialism that Moscow saw as an open door to Western influence.. The process ended when Soviet forces invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic..

The so-called special military operation in Ukraine has caused the biggest war in Europe since World War II, in addition to a wave of repression in Russia never seen in this century. Putin joked about that when he spoke of “160 or 170” people from the cultural sector who have left the country: “They have gone abroad; they do not agree with the policy of the Russian state. But you can disagree and be here and talking about it, no one forbids it. But some decided to leave.” In reality, mere criticism of the war has led to the erasure of various artists in Russia and there are several people prosecuted in Russia for “discrediting the army” for the mere fact of not repeating the lies of the Russian government, such as that it is not attacking the civilian population or that there are many Russians who do not want to fight in this war that Moscow does not dare to call by its name