Putin Slams Plans to Inflict ‘Strategic Defeat’ on Russia as Mistaken 'Illusory Calculations’

Russian President Vladimir Putin explained that any attempts to inflict strategic defeat on Russia are based on false assumptions and poor understanding of Russian history since they do not take into account the strength of spirit and cohesion of Russian people.

"As for Ukraine... The essentially hostile course taken by a number of Western states to escalate and prolong the Ukrainian conflict, meaning to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, is deeply erroneous. Such illusory calculations can be made only by those who do not know and do not want to know the history of Russia, do not take into account the unity, strength of spirit and cohesion of the Russian people," Putin said.

Meanwhile, Russia is not only ready for negotiations with Ukraine, but has even conducted these talks, Vladimir Putin said .

"I have repeatedly said that Russia is not only ready for negotiations, but at a certain stage — at the very beginning of this conflict — conducted these negotiations. And even a mutually acceptable agreement was worked out, initialed by the Ukrainian side. However, the Ukrainian side, on the advice of the outside, as stated by Ukrainian officials, rejected this agreement," Putin stressed.

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On Middle East Escalation

Russia is making active efforts to prevent the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from turning into a large-scale war, Putin said.

"Russia is making active efforts to prevent the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from turning into a major war in the Middle East. We are convinced that it is only possible to return the parties to the path of reconciliation and achieve a sustainable and long-term settlement on a generally recognized international legal basis," Putin said during the ceremony of presenting credentials.

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On Russian-Belarussian Ties

The fraternal Russian-Belarusian relations have high dynamics, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed. Earlier he received credentials from the Ambassador of Belarus Aleksandr Rogozhnik.

"Recently, the fraternal Russian-Belarusian relations have acquired really high dynamics. By the way, December marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the treaty on the creation of the Union State, and Minsk will host a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State dedicated to this anniversary," Putin said during the ceremony of presenting credentials in the Kremlin.

In addition, Putin wished Belarus a successful holding of the presidential election scheduled for January 2025.