‘WE HAD NO CHOICE”: Putin Calls War With Ukraine a “Tragedy”

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the war in Ukraine a “tragedy” but insisted that Russia had “no choice” but to invade its western neighbor.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting in eastern Russia with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said: “What is happening in Ukraine is a tragedy, no doubt about that. But we had no choice. It was just a matter of time [before an attack on Russia].”

Putin traveled to Russia’s far-eastern Amur region to meet with Lukashenko, a staunch ally who has supported the Russian president and his war in Ukraine. The two leaders discussed the war during the meeting, the Russian news agency Tass reported.

Economic sanctions imposed on his country have “failed,” Putin added, asserting that the Russian economy is steady despite the blows.

“The sanctions ‘blitzkrieg’ against Russia failed, the country’s industry and financial system are working, but of course there are some problems,” Putin said. “It’s clear that the Russian economy is stable. But in the medium and long term, the risks may increase. Our adversaries are planning to double down on their activities.”

Lukashenko called the war a “dangerous moment” with the West, blaming Britain and the United States in particular. Putin thanked him for helping with negotiations with Ukraine but said they have reached a deadlock, for which he blamed the Ukrainians.

“Kyiv moved away from the Istanbul agreements, so we are back to an impasse,” he said, referring to negotiations in the Turkish city late last month. “Yesterday, I was told that the Ukrainian side has changed something in its negotiating position. I don’t know the details yet,” he added.

Putin also said it was unclear when the war would end. The “special military operation” in Ukraine is going as planned and will continue until its goals are met, he said. “We will act rhythmically, calmly, according to the plan that was originally proposed by the General Staff,” Putin said.

The rare news conference followed a visit by the two leaders to the Vostochny Cosmodrome to mark Russia’s annual Cosmonautics Day, which commemorates the world’s first manned space flight, by a Soviet cosmonaut in 1961.

Belarus’s military has not joined the fight in Ukraine, but Russian soldiers have been based in Belarus since before the war began and launched their main ground offensive into northern Ukraine and toward Kyiv from Belarusian territory.

However, hundreds of pro-democracy activists from Belarus have joined the fight in Ukraine against Russia – inspired by Ukraine’s battlefield successes and determined to carry that momentum back into Belarus to end Lukashenko’s 28-year rule. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has been a vocal opponent of the invasion and has labeled Lukashenko’s government a “co-aggressor” in Russia’s war.

Also, Tuesday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that he would not meet with Germany’s president during a potential trip to Kyiv, leading the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to scrap plans for a visit, according to Bild, a German mass-circulation daily.

Steinmeier appeared to acknowledge the snub, saying during an appearance Tuesday in Warsaw that a visit “was not wanted in Kyiv.” Steinmeier’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Zelensky declined to comment.

The episode highlights tensions between Kyiv and Berlin, which has resisted calls to embargo Russian energy supplies and sent mixed messages about the German government’s willingness to export heavy weapons to Ukraine.

Under Germany’s parliamentary system, the president acts as the head of state, while the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, heads the government. But Steinmeier, a member of Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party, is also a former foreign minister and vice chancellor, giving him greater prominence in matters of foreign policy.

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The United States is assessing allegations that Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine, but there are a “host of difficulties” in confirming their accuracy, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday.

The challenges for U.S. officials include lack of access to the southern port city of Mariupol, where undefined chemicals were alleged to have been used, and to medical professionals who may have treated anyone exposed.

“These are difficult things to prove even when you are more proximate, and we are not,” the senior U.S. defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon. “And so I think you can understand we want to be very careful here before making a proclamation.”

The challenge in proving the use of chemical weapons also depends on what might have been deployed. If it was a riot-control agent such as CS gas, it would be felt immediately by those close by but would not cause widespread reaction and probably not get into the soil, which could otherwise be tested, the official said.

The deployment of a larger chemical weapon may cause a plume or cloud, but assessing that is still difficult when one is not there, the official added.

(c) 2022, The Washington Post · Mary Ilyushina, Adela Suliman 


4 COMMENTS

  1. What he found in those deep deep deep tunnels sure is a tragedy – worse than the deep deep deep tunnels under the White House in DC and most of these deep deep deep tunnels. Hope he’ll finish off the Cabal very soon.

  2. No one believes him anymore. The Russian economy is shot, their military youth are dead, and they’ve lost every friend in Europe.

  3. Putin is a good leader who is trying to do what is best for HIS country. I wish President Biden would do what is best for THIS country! Instead Biden is killing this country, all in the name of saving the earth. Such stupidity out of a stupid person.

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