Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, said that Russia wants to end the war with Ukraine as soon as possible, but only on its own terms. He said this while visiting the Central Military Clinical Hospital named after A. Vishnevsky on Monday, January 1. “Those who were talking just yesterday about the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia are now looking for ways to end the conflict more quickly. And we also want to end the conflict, as soon as possible, but on our terms,” the news service Interfax quotes Putin as saying.
“We have no desire to fight endlessly. But we are not going to surrender our positions,” added the Russian President. He said that the Russian Armed Forces officially have the upper hand in the front and that the Russian army is getting better and better at using modern weapons of war, to the point where no other army in the world is ready or able to do so.
Putin threatens to escalate strikes on Ukraine
Putin said that the strikes on Belgorod by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on December 30 were a “terrorist act” and a “deliberate strike against the civilian population.” He said that Russia’s only goal in Ukraine is “military objectives,” and they plan to keep doing that.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the city of Belgorod with missiles from multiple launch rocket systems on the evening of December 30. The attack hurt more than 100 people and killed 22. There was also damage to 44 houses and 53 cars.
Right after the attack on Belgorod by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia attacked Kharkiv. One of the missiles hit a residential building in the middle of the city, and it destroyed other civilian structures. One of the strikes also hit the Kharkiv Palace Hotel. According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, at least 26 people, including two children, were hurt when Russia shelled Kharkiv.
Russia said that the Kharkiv Palace was home to personnel working for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and about two hundred mercenaries who were planning to do damage in Russia.
“We will escalate the strikes I mentioned; this is undoubtedly not just a crime, but undoubtedly a crime against the civilian population. It will not go unpunished, 100%, there can be no doubt,” Putin declared during his visit to the military hospital on January 1.
Zelensky on the timeline for the end of the war with Russia
At a news conference on December 19 to talk about the end of the year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked if the war with Russia would end in 2024. He said that no one knew the answer to that question. “Even when our respected Western partners talk about many years, they don’t know… Opinions often differ from reality… War, victory, defeat, stagnation – it depends on many decisions, directions, and risks, but mostly on us. If we don’t lose stability, we will end the war sooner,” Zelensky noted.
He emphasized that Russia did not achieve “any of its goals” in 2023, so there is “nothing to talk about Ukraine’s defeat.”
