Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday used the word “war” to refer to the conflict in Ukraine, the first known time he has publicly deviated from his carefully crafted description of the invasion of Moscow as a ” special military operation” 10 months after its start.
“Our aim is not to turn the wheel of the military conflict, but rather to end this war,” Putin told reporters in Moscow after attending a State Council meeting on youth policy.
“We have been and will continue to fight for this.”
Putin’s critics say using the word “war” to describe the conflict in Ukraine has been effectively illegal in Russia since March, when the Russian leader signed a censorship law that makes it a crime to spread “false” information about the invasion, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for those convicted.
Therefore, Putin’s use of the word did not go unnoticed.
Nikita Yuferev, a St Petersburg city legislator who fled Russia over its anti-war stance, said on Thursday he had asked Russian authorities to prosecute Putin for “spreading false information about the army”.
“There was no decree to end the special military operation, no war was declared,” Yuferev wrote on Twitter. “Several thousands of people have already been condemned for such words about war.”
A US official told CNN that his initial assessment was that Putin’s comment was unintentional and likely a slip of the tongue. However, officials will be watching closely to see what figures inside the Kremlin say about this in the coming days.
Thousands have been killed, entire villages destroyed and billions of dollars worth of infrastructure destroyed since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
On that day, Putin used the term “special military operation” to describe his attack. He has framed the ongoing brutality as a “denazification” campaign – a description dismissed by historians and political observers – and has increasingly described the unprovoked invasion of Russia as a patriotic and quasi-existential cause.
Putin on Patriot Missiles and Peace
Putin’s comments on Thursday followed a historic trip by Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington, where the Ukrainian president delivered an impassioned speech to Congress urging greater US support for the war effort.
During his visit, US President Joe Biden unveiled a $1.8 billion assistance package for Ukraine that includes a Patriot missile defense system – a long-standing request from Kiev to counter Russian air strikes.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow on Thursday, Putin dismissed Patriot systems as “old” and said Russia “will always find the antidote”.
“Regarding the Patriots, this is a rather old system and it doesn’t work as well as our S-300 (missile system),” Putin said.
“Those who oppose us think this is a defensive weapon, so they say. But that’s on their minds and we’ll always find the antidote.
“So those who do that are just wasting their time, just delaying the conflict.”
In his speech to Congress, Zelensky briefly discussed a 10-point peace formula and a summit that he told Biden about during an earlier meeting at the White House. The Ukrainian leader claimed that Biden supported peace initiatives.
Asked on Thursday by a reporter whether there was a real chance for diplomacy in Ukraine, Putin said negotiation always preceded the end of the conflict.
“All conflicts, armed conflicts too, end one way or another with some kind of negotiation,” Putin said, accusing Zelensky of refusing to negotiate.
“We never refused, it was the Ukrainian leadership that refused to conduct the negotiations… sooner or later any party to the conflict will sit down and negotiate and the sooner those who oppose us realize this, the better,” he said.
Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared on Wednesday that the Kremlin will make substantial investment in many areas of the military.
Initiatives include increasing the size of the armed forces, accelerating weapons programs and deploying a new generation of hypersonic missiles to prepare Russia for what Putin has called “inevitable clashes” with its adversaries.
Source: CNN Brasil
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