Russia might try to take Ukraine city Sumy: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he did not 'rule out' his forces attempting to seize the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, raising fresh doubts over the prospect of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks and Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging a peace deal to prolong its full-scale offensive on the country.
Russia currently occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its assault in 2022, in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014.
The Sumy region is not one of the regions Moscow has formally annexed, although Russian forces have recently made inroads there for the first time in three years.
At Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg, Putin suggested Moscow could take Sumy as part of a 'buffer zone' along the border and repeated his denial of Ukrainian statehood.
'We have no objective to take Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out... They pose a constant threat to us, constantly shelling the border areas,' Putin said.
'I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one people. In that sense, all of Ukraine is ours,' he told attendees, when asked why his army was entering areas Moscow did not claim as its own.
'There is a saying: where ever a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours.'
Sumy is around 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Russian border and has been heavily targeted throughout the conflict.
Putin's widening territorial ambitions are likely to roil Kyiv, which has accused Moscow of not wanting to end the fighting.
The two sides held rounds of direct talks in Istanbul in May and in June, but Kyiv accused Moscow of sending 'dummy' negotiators with no real power to enact a peace deal.
Putin has declined to take part in the peace talks in person and on Thursday said he would only meet Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky during a 'final phase' of negotiations on ending the three-year conflict.
He has also insisted Ukraine give up territory it already controls for peace.
Kyiv says it cannot and will not accept Russian occupation of any part of its land. In his address Friday, Putin denied he was calling for Ukraine to 'capitulate'.
'We are not seeking Ukraine's surrender. We insist on recognition of the realities that have developed on the ground,' the Russian leader said.
Putin repeated that Moscow was 'advancing on all fronts' and that his troops had penetrated up to 12 kilometres (seven miles) into the Sumy region. He also accused Kyiv of 'stupidity' by launching an incursion into Russia's Kursk region last August.
'They are creating problems for themselves,' he said. Russia has for months been rejecting calls for an unconditional ceasefire, launching deadly attacks on its neighbour.
On the other hand, Russia's Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, who has led the state's efforts to seize property worth 2.4 trillion roubles ($31 billion), on Friday said foreign companies that return to the country would be watched closely to ensure Russia benefited.
Moscow has placed around a dozen foreign-owned assets under state management in the more than three years that Russia has been fighting in Ukraine and prosecutors have stepped up the seizure of domestic assets through the courts this year.
Now, as the economy begins to slow after two years of growth fuelled by high military spending, Russian officials are trying to find the balance between insulating the economy from exposure to Western nations it considers unfriendly and the need for growth to keep funding the conflict in Ukraine.
'We will closely follow the government's actions,' Krasnov said. 'That is, who will come... on what terms they will come.'
'We will definitely look at making sure that the conditions under which our (Russian) business operates are better (when Western business returns),' Krasnov said. It must be profitable for Russia's own firms, he said.
Russia is prioritising domestic companies, some of whom have taken market share vacated by Western firms, such as McDonald's and Unilever, that have left since Russia launched the conflict in Ukraine.
Agencies
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
22 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Putin slams attack on Iran but offers no support to key ally
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed attacks on Iran as "unprovoked" and "unjustified" in a meeting with Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, but did not announce any concrete support to his key ally in the Middle East. Moscow is a crucial backer of Iran, but has not swung forcefully behind its partner even as the United States launched strikes on its nuclear facilities over the weekend. "This absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran is unjustified," Putin said in televised remarks to Araghchi at the start of their meeting. The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed the exchange after the talks by saying "they were unlikely to be effective" during such a "heated moment". Araghchi later said the meeting was "very good" and that Russia's stance on the issue remained "firm", noting its role in the UN Security Council. He did not provide further details on the talks with the Russian leader. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said revealing details of the Putin-Araghchi meeting would have been "irresponsible" and that Russia and Iran were working on "many directions" when asked if Tehran requested military aid from Russia. Since Israel launched its wave of strikes on June 13, triggering Iran to respond with missiles and drones, Russia has not publicly offered military help to Tehran. Russia was "making efforts to help the Iranian people", Putin said in the meeting, without elaborating. Asked what specific support Russia might offer, Peskov told reporters: "It all depends on what Iran needs. We have offered our mediation services." Putin has pitched himself as a mediator between Iran and Israel, an idea rejected by US President Donald Trump last week. Peskov also said the strikes on Iran would not affect bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington -- with the Kremlin seeking a rapprochement with the United States since Donald Trump returned to power -- saying they were "different issues". Russia had called on the US not to take military action against its ally -- with Moscow-Tehran ties massively boosted during Russia's Ukraine offensive -- and speculation has grown about how the Kremlin would react. Nikita Smagin, an independent expert on Russia-Iran relations, said Araghchi was likely to have delivered a plea for military aid on behalf of the Iranian leadership. "I don't think that the head of the Iranian foreign ministry rushed to Moscow just to exchange concerns on the American strike," he told AFP in a comment. Smagin speculated that Russia -- caught up in its more than three-year Ukraine offensive -- would rather distance itself from the Israel-Iran conflict and try to reap short-term benefits, such as higher oil prices and advancing in Ukraine while the West's focus is on the Middle East.
Gulf Today
2 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Ukraine army chief pledges to expand strikes on Russia
Ukraine's top military commander vowed to increase the 'scale and depth' of strikes on Russia in remarks made public on Sunday, saying Kyiv would not sit idly by while Moscow prolonged its three-year invasion. Diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled in recent weeks. The last direct meeting between the two sides was almost three weeks ago and no follow-up talks have been scheduled. Russian attacks on Ukraine have killed dozens of people during the interim, including in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, according to officials. 'We will not just sit in defence. Because this brings nothing and eventually leads to the fact that we still retreat, lose people and territories,' Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky told reporters including the media. Syrsky said Ukraine would continue its strikes on Russian military targets, which he said had proved 'effective'. 'Of course, we will continue. We will increase the scale and depth,' he said. Medical workers help a woman in the yard of an apartment building destroyed after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early on Monday. AP Ukraine has launched retaliatory strikes on Russia throughout the war, targeting energy and military infrastructure sometimes hundreds of kilometres from the front line. Kyiv says the strikes are a fair response to deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians. At least four people were killed in an overnight Russian strike on an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, while a strike on a Ukrainian army training ground later in the day killed three others, officials said. In wide-ranging remarks, Syrsky conceded that Russia had some advantages in drone warfare, particularly in making fibre-optic drones that are tethered and difficult to jam. 'Here, unfortunately, they have an advantage in both the number and range of their use,' he said. He also claimed that Ukraine still held 90 square kilometres of territory in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv launched an audacious cross-border incursion last August. 'These are our pre-emptive actions in response to a possible enemy offensive,' he said. Russia said in April that it had gained full control of the Kursk region and denies that Kyiv has a presence there. Moscow occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its invasion in 2022 - in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014. Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging a peace deal to prolong its full-scale offensive on the country and to seize more territory. The Russian army said on Sunday that it had captured the village of Petrivske in Ukraine's northeast Kharkiv region. Russian forces also fired at least 47 drones and three missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early on Sunday, the Ukrainian air force said. On Saturday, hundreds of Ukrainians observed the longest day of the year with a midsummer celebration of some of their oldest traditions, a display of cultural perseverance in a nation threatened by war. Rooted in Ukraine's ancient past of Slavic paganism the event, Ivana Kupala, features rituals and symbolism to honor the summer solstice, related to fertility, nature, purity and renewal - values that predate the region's Christianization at the end of the first millennium. At the open-air National Museum of Folk Architecture and Ukrainian Life on the outskirts of Kyiv, participants in embroidered shirts and blouses strolled among thatched-roof cottages, wooden churches and windmills dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. Women and girls wore vinoks - wreaths made from wildflowers - as they took part in folk dances, games and craft workshops. Viktoria Phi, a master of folk art at the museum, taught visitors to weave the colorful flowered headdresses. She said that Ivana Kupala, which also has variations in other Slavic countries from the Czech Republic to Bulgaria to Russia, was a 'small oasis' in the war in Ukraine, where people can 'walk and enjoy nature, architecture, songs and dances.' 'It's most popular among young people, and I am very happy when a family comes with young children,' she said. Agencies
Middle East Eye
3 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel bombs Tehran prison as Iranian missiles disrupt power supply
Israel and Iran exchanged heavy strikes on Monday in one of the most intense days of the conflict since the Israeli military launched an offensive against the Islamic Republic more than a week ago. The Israeli military said it carried out wide-ranging attacks on 'regime targets' in Tehran, including sites tied to Iran's internal security apparatus, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Evin Prison, which holds prominent political dissidents. Iran's Nour news agency reported that the detainees were safe. Iranian state and semi-official media reported that an electricity feeder station was hit in northern Tehran, leading to localised blackouts. The Qom province's crisis centre confirmed that Israel also targeted the Fordow nuclear facility, the most fortified nuclear sites in Iran, already struck by the US air force a day earlier. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Israeli military said the attack was meant to block access routes to the site. The Iranian people will never forgive or forget US-Israeli attacks Read More » Iranian student media also reported a strike at Shahid Beheshti University. The air strike came shortly after a barrage of Iranian missiles that triggered sirens across Israel for over 30 minutes on Monday morning. Explosions were heard throughout the country, caused either by direct missile impacts or interceptor defences. Israeli authorities reported damage "near a strategic infrastructure facility" in the south, which disrupted power supply. However, military censorship restricts public disclosure, leaving the full extent of the Iranian strikes unclear. Search and rescue teams were deployed to multiple locations where missile impacts were confirmed, though no casualties were reported. Iran seeks Russia's help As exchanges of fire escalated, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi flew to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Reuters, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had dispatched Araghchi to Moscow to deliver a message to Putin personally. In a press conference in Moscow attended by Putin and Aragchi, the Russian president condemned Israel's attacks on Iran, saying: "Russia's position in supporting Iran is clear. We reject the Israeli aggression, and it has no justification whatsoever." Putin added that Russia "was trying to help the people of Iran", although he did not give any details of what assistance Russia would provide to Tehran. Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran is frustrated with the lack of robust Russian support and is seeking a stronger commitment in the face of intensifying Israeli and US actions. The Iranian foreign minister, speaking to Russia's Tass agency, said Tehran and Moscow were 'coordinating their positions' on the current crisis. Since 13 June, Israeli strikes in Iran have killed at least 430 people and wounded 3,500, according to health officials. Independent sources suggest the death toll could be much higher. Meanwhile, Iranian missile attacks have killed at least 25 people and wounded 2,500, according to Israeli officials.
