Putin says victory in Ukraine ‘is assured’ and claims Russia is trying to END war

Vladimir Putin has said Russia’s victory in Ukraine ‘is assured’ and claimed he is trying to end the war that has continued in the Donbas from 2014, where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces ever since.

In televised remarks to veterans and workers during a visit to a weapons factory in his home town of Saint Petersburg, the Russian President said confidently: ‘Victory is assured, I have no doubt about it.’

He claimed Russia has long sought to negotiate a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, and said that Moscow’s invasion of Russia’s neighbour was intended to stop the ‘war’ that has been on-going in the eastern region of Ukraine for many years.

NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg quickly hit back at Putin’s claims, telling reporters in Davos, Switzerland that Putin has shown no sign of preparing for peace, and that the Russian despot must realise he has no chance of a battlefield victory.

In televised remarks to veterans and workers during a visit to a weapons factory in his home town of Saint Petersburg, the Russian President said confidently: ‘Victory is assured, I have no doubt about it.’ Pictured: Putin is seen with officials inspecting the factory on Wednesday 

Nevertheless, Stoltenberg called this a ‘pivotal moment’ in Ukraine, and said Kyiv needs a ‘significant increase’ in weapons from its western allies to overcome Russia.

‘President Putin has shown no sign of preparing for peace and therefore he must realise he cannot win on battlefield. This is a pivotal moment in the war and the need for a significant increase in support for Ukraine,’ Stoltenberg told Reuters in Davos.

‘If we want a negotiated peaceful solution tomorrow we need to provide more weapons today,’ he added.

This echoed NATO’s deputy secretary general, who earlier today warned top military chiefs that Russia was preparing for an extended war, and that its member nations must get ready ‘for the long haul’ and support Ukraine a long as it takes. 

Addressing the opening of the military chiefs’ meeting, Mircea Geoana said NATO nations must invest more in defence, ramp up military industrial manufacturing and harness new technologies to help win future conflicts.

Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, and has since been drawn into a protracted conflict. Moscow expected to take the whole of Ukraine in a matter of weeks, but the war is now close to the one year mark.

Kyiv’s forces pushed Russian troops back from the capital just a month after the invasion, and have since inflicted a series of embarrassing defeats on Russia. 

Despite the defeats, Putin told workers at a factory victory was ‘guaranteed’. 

‘The unity and solidarity of the Russian people, the courage and heroism of our fighters and, of course, the work of the military-industrial sector’ will secure victory, he said in his latest rambling speech about the war.

Putin also praised the Russian defence industry as he spoke at the plant, which is part of Russian missile manufacturer Almaz-Antey. ‘We have something to rely upon and this cannot but inspire that victory will be ours,’ he said.

On the conflict, Putin said: ‘Large-scale combat operations involving heavy weapons, artillery, tanks and aircraft haven’t stopped in Donbas since 2014.

‘All that we are doing today, as part of the special military operation, is an attempt to stop this war. This is the meaning of our operation – protecting people who live on those territories.’ 

Putin claimed Russia has long sought to negotiate a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, and said that Moscow’s invasion of Russia’s neighbour was intended to stop the ‘war’. Pictured: Putin attends events marking the 80th anniversary of the break of Nazi’s siege of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the city on Wednesday

Putin again insisted that Russia had tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement before sending in troops, but ‘we were just duped and cheated’. He described Ukraine’s east as Russia’s ‘historic territories’, adding that Moscow conceded their loss after the 1991 Soviet collapse but had to act to protect Russian speakers there.

‘We suffered for a long time, we tried to come to an agreement for a long time. As it turned out, we were simply led by the nose, deceived. We did everything possible to settle this situation by peaceful means,’ he said. 

‘Now it has become obvious that this was, by definition, impossible,’ he claimed.

‘The enemy was simply preparing to force this whole conflict into an ‘acute’ and ‘hot’ phase. I say again, we had no choice but to do that which we are doing now.’

He went on to repeat unfounded claims that Ukraine’s government are Nazis.

‘And as for the crimes against the civilian population by the neo-Nazis who settled in Ukraine, who run the show, and who seized power in Ukraine… Everything that has happened since is significant, but the primary source of power for today’s government in Ukraine was their coup d’etat,’ he said. 

Putin has explained his decision to send troops into Ukraine on February 24 by the need to protect Russian speakers and conduct ‘demilitarization’ and ‘denazification’ of Ukraine to prevent it from posing a threat to Russia – claims rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies as a cover for an unprovoked act of aggression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends events marking the 80th anniversary of the break of Nazi’s siege of Leningrad, (now Saint Petersburg) during World War Two at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of siege victims are buried, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Putin attended the meeting with veterans during a visit to Saint Petersburg for the 80th anniversary of the Red Army breaking the Nazi siege there on Jan. 18, 1943, when it was called Leningrad.

The blockade of the city lasted nearly 900 days and only fully lifted in January 1944, marking one of the bloodiest pages of the Second World War. About 1 million people died in Leningrad during the siege, most of them from starvation.

Putin laid a wreath at the city’s Piskaryov memorial cemetery, where 420,000 civilian victims of the siege and 70,000 Soviet soldiers were buried. He also put flowers in a section where his brother, who died as a child during the siege, was buried in a ass grave.

Putin also visited a defence factory in Saint Petersburg, where he promised workers more social benefits and draft deferments. 

He said the ‘courage and heroism of our soldiers’ and defense industry efforts would secure Russia’s victory.

Speaking energetically but frequently clearing his throat, Putin said Russia produces three times as many air defense missiles as the United States.

Putin’s public appearance came as Russia’s war on Ukraine nears the one year mark.

At a meeting this week, NATO chiefs are expected to discuss how allies can expand the delivery of weapons, training and support to Ukraine in the coming months, and how they can further shore up their own defenses.

‘We have no indication that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s goals have changed,’ said Geoana, adding that Russia has mobilized more than 200,000 additional troops. ‘So we must be prepared for the long haul. 2023 will be a difficult year and we need to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

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Pictured: A high-rise residential building lies partially destroyed after a missile strike on January 15, 2023 in Dnipro, Ukraine

U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met quietly on Tuesday with Ukraine’s chief military officer, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, at an undisclosed location in southeastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border. And he is expected to relay Zaluzhnyi’s concerns to the other military leaders at the meeting.

Milley’s meeting with Zaluzhnyi was quickly arranged when it became clear Monday that the Ukraine chief would not be able to attend the NATO sessions in person.

He’s expected to attend by video conference on Thursday.

Army Col. Dave Butler, Milley’s spokesman, said the chairman planned to describe to the NATO chiefs ‘the tactical and operational conditions on the battlefield and what the military needs are for that.’

Adm. Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, told the gathering of chiefs on Wednesday that the alliance must continue to transform to meet future fights.

‘The war has also shown us that you have to be able to fight tomorrow’s battles, as well as yesterday’s battles, today,’ said Bauer, who is with the Royal Netherlands Navy. ‘Modern warfare is just as much about bits and bots as it is about mud and blood.’

He noted that about a year ago, the NATO Russia Council held its last meeting.

‘Back then we were still able to sit around the same table,’ he said, adding that now, after Russia’s brutal invasion and war in Ukraine, ‘the world is a different place.’

NATO, he said, has proven it can quickly increase and shift its military presence when and where needed. And he echoed the commitment that the alliance is prepared to support Ukraine for as long as needed.

Putin, he said, ‘underestimated the scale and bravery of Ukrainian people, armed forces and leadership, and underestimated our unity and our solidarity with Ukraine.’

That alliance support, he said, has made a difference on the battlefield, and it will continue.