Vladimir Putin Issues Warning of New War
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Ukraine risks renewed armed conflict in the future if it does not recognize the results of referenda ballots Moscow held in 2022 in four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims to have annexed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Sky News Arabia.
The Russian president said Kyiv should recognize the referenda denounced as shams that Moscow said cemented its claim in the oblasts of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin, meanwhile, illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian foreign ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
In September 2022, Russia held a referenda on whether the regions Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts should be annexed by Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.
Russia does not fully occupy the four regions and the ballots were condemned internationally as shams. Putin then signed a treaty on the accession to Russia of the regions.
Ukraine is still fighting for these territories, but Putin's latest comments reiterate Moscow's red lines in any negotiations which because they are unacceptable to Kyiv, signal that a diplomatic solution to the war Moscow started remains distant.
What To Know
In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Putin warned Ukraine must recognize the 2022 referendum or face "opportunities for the resumption of armed conflict."
He also said that Russia was allegedly close to reaching an agreement with Ukraine during talks in Istanbul in 2022 and he wanted the Ukrainian leadership "to be guided by national interests and not by the interests of third parties."
Putin said long-term stability in the region required Ukraine to be neutral and refuse to join alliances and renouncing nuclear weapons.
He also accused the West of using Ukraine as a "tool" against Russia and that the country "deserves a better fate than being a tool in the hands of external parties acting against Russia."
His comments follow an address at this year's St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in which he said, "Ukraine is part of Russia," and that he considered Russians and Ukrainians to be "one people."
In response to Putin's comment "where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours," Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday "wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, he brings along only death, destruction, and devastation."
Putin's remarks cast doubt on the chances of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, especially with the Russian president saying he did not rule out taking control of the northeastern city of Sumy to create a border buffer zone.
Putin's negotiator Vladimir Medinsky had warned Ukraine and Western allies earlier this month Russians will capture new territories if Ukraine did not agree to Moscow's conditions.
As U.S. ceasefire proposals remain stalled, Yuriy Boyechko, CEO and founder of Hope for Ukraine, told Newsweek that the war can only stop if the Trump administration "finds enough courage to make Putin agree to at least 30 days ceasefire."
Boyechko said as global attention focuses on the escalating Iran-Israel conflict, the war in Ukraine is entering a new phase.
Following Monday night's assault by Russia on Ukraine—the deadliest in nearly a year, Boyechko said it Trump cannot rebuke the attacks and that the U.S. Senate should move forward with passing a bill sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, with veto-proof majority and approve additional sanctions against Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the 28th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum SPIEF 2025 on June 20 in Saint Petersburg.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the 28th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum SPIEF 2025 on June 20 in Saint Petersburg.
Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X in part on Friday in response to Putin's speech at SPIEF: "Putin's cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for U.S. peace efforts. While the United States and the rest of the world have called for an immediate end to the killing, Russia's top war criminal discusses plans to seize more Ukrainian territory and kill more Ukrainians."
He added: "Putin does not care about Russian soldiers or their feet torn apart by Ukrainian drones. He is a mass murderer of his own people. He already disposed one million Russian soldiers in a senseless bloodbath in Ukraine without achieving a single strategic goal. One million soldiers. Two million feet."
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, wrote on Friday: "Putin claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are one nation and all of Ukraine is effectively Russian as part of efforts to justify his continued conquest of Ukraine."
It added in its latest assessment: "Putin's commitment to this narrative underscores his ongoing commitment to destroying the Ukrainian state and subjugating the Ukrainian people."
What Happens Next?
As the war continues to grind on, Putin's latest comments put the prospect of negotiations with Ukraine further away.
The ISW said that Putin's recent rhetoric shows he thinks his forces are able to win a war of attrition via gradual advances and high losses.
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