Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that Russia’s massive strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were “necessary and unavoidable”, further denouncing the “destructive” position of the West which supports kyiv. “It has been pointed out that the Russian armed forces have long avoided high-precision missile strikes on certain targets in Ukraine, but such measures have become necessary and inevitable in the face of provocative attacks from kyiv,” the Kremlin said in a statement. , summing up Vladimir Putin’s remarks to Olaf Scholz during their first interview since mid-September.
Putin complains about financial support to Ukraine
According to Vladimir Putin, kyiv is responsible for the explosions which partly destroyed the Russian Crimean bridge and Russian energy installations, and therefore Moscow is within its rights by bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving in the cold and the dark million civilians. Vladimir Putin, who launched his assault on February 24, again complained about Western financial and military support for Ukraine, supplies that enabled kyiv to inflict humiliating defeats on Russia.
Therefore for the Russian president, the position of the West is “destructive”, because strong in political, financial and military support from the West, “kyiv rejects the idea of any negotiation” and “incites the Ukrainian radical nationalists to commit crimes bloody”. Vladimir Putin thus called on Olaf Scholz “to review his approach in the context of the Ukrainian events”.
A bombardment of energy installations since October
The Russian president had decreed the annexation at the end of September of four regions of Ukraine, although he does not control them, in addition to the Crimea annexed in 2014. kyiv for its part rejects any negotiation with Putin, without respect for its integrity territory, Crimea included. Militarily, the Russian army suffered several defeats, having been forced to withdraw from the north of the country in April, then from part of the northeast in September and finally from part of the south in November.
Since October, the Russian forces have therefore adopted the tactic of bombing the installations supplying electricity and heat to the country, even as winter is settling in Ukraine. Finally, a little earlier on Friday, the Kremlin had rejected the conditions mentioned the day before by American President Joe Biden who had said he was “ready” to discuss with Vladimir Putin if the latter “is looking for a way to end the war” in Ukraine, setting as the first condition a withdrawal of Russian troops.
The US president “de facto said that negotiations would be possible only after Putin leaves Ukraine”, which Moscow “obviously rejects”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “The military operation continues,” he insisted.