In a message of defiance despite growing international belligerence, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said that Russia would achieve the goals of its military intervention in Ukraine. Putin made the declaration during a phone call with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
Commenting on talks between Moscow and Kyiv, Putin reportedly said that if Ukraine tries to delay negotiations, then it would result in Russia adding more items to its list of demands. The Putin administration has claimed that its military action against Ukraine is aimed at "demilitarising" the country and ensuring its "neutral status", so that a "threat" to Russia doesn't emanate from Ukrainian territory.
Amid Ukraine's claims that it is holding Russia back and foiling its plans, Moscow claimed that its operation is going according to plan. Russia claims to have taken the port city of Kherson, even as fighting rages on in other major cities like Kharkiv and the capital Kyiv.
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Some commentators have claimed that Kyiv might be part of Russia's final assault, after it has captured other major urban centres like Kharkiv, Odessa, and Mariupol.
Meanwhile, Putin's foreign minister issued his second nuclear warfare warning in as many days. Sergey Lavrov reportedly said that the idea of a nuclear war is "spinning constantly" in the heads of Western leaders, and not Russian. He added that Russia would not be thrown off balance by any provocations.
A day earlier, Lavrov had said that if World War 3 occurs, it would involve nuclear weapons and would be very destructive. Days after the Ukraine war began, Russian President Putin had put the country's nuclear deterrence forces on high alert.