He may have been speaking at an economic forum, but that didn’t stop Vladimir Putin from issuing his most hawkish comments on Ukraine in a very long time.
During a Q&A at Russia’s flagship investment event in St Petersburg, the Kremlin leader was asked what his end game was in the conflict.
He replied: “I have said many times that I consider the Russian and Ukrainian people to be one nation. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours.”
The answer received rapturous applause from an auditorium full of fawning politicians and business figures.
And there was more.
“There is an old rule,” he said. “‘Where a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours’.”
In short, he was saying that he wants the whole lot.
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The comments came as a surprise because they are in sharp contrast to the Kremlin’s recent rhetoric.
Ever since Donald Trump began his push for a peace deal, Moscow has adopted a softer tone, more conciliatory – in an apparent attempt to show Washington that it is interested in a settlement.
But there was none of that kind of language here. Quite the opposite.
The Russian president even, for the first time in months, threatened a nuclear strike on Ukraine.
Asked how Moscow would respond if Kyiv used a dirty bomb against Russian forces, he promised “catastrophic” consequences for his enemy.
“This would be a colossal mistake on the part of those whom we call neo-Nazis on the territory of today’s Ukraine,” he said. “It could be their last mistake.
“We always respond and respond in kind. Therefore, our response will be very tough.”
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The Kremlin’s nuclear sabre-rattling was an almost weekly feature during the last days of the Biden administration, but the sabres stilled when Mr Trump came to power.
But now, all of a sudden, he’s returned to it.
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It felt like a very deliberate message from Vladimir Putin that, despite peace talks, Russia has no intention of backing down, neither on the battlefield nor at the negotiating table.
I think it shows that Moscow is not too worried about upsetting Donald Trump.
The American leader appears to have distanced himself from trying to mediate the conflict, but still seems to be pursuing warmer ties with Moscow.
So I think these comments also show how confident Putin is that things are going his way.
