Moscow: Four-and-a-half months into the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has caused immense damage to its eastern European neighbours. But going by Vladimir Putin’s latest utterances, he hasn’t had enough.
The Russian President on Friday warned that Kyiv should accept Moscow’s terms or brace for the worst.
What’s more ominous is that Putin claimed Russia has barely started its military action.
“It’s a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it looks like it’s heading in that direction,” Putin said while speaking at a meeting with leaders of Parliament.
“Everybody should know that largely speaking, we haven’t even yet started anything in earnest,” Putin added in a menacing note.
Accusing the US and European allies of fuelling tension, Putin said that the “West wants to fight us until the last Ukrainian.”
Putin stated that Russia remains ready to sit for talks to end the fighting.
“Those who refuse to do so should know that the longer it lasts, the more difficult it will be for them to make a deal with us,” he said.
“We are hearing that they want to defeat us on the battlefield… Let them try,” Putin dared Ukraine.
He contended that Western sanctions against Russia have not achieved their goal of “sowing division and strife in our society and demoralizing our people.”
He further said that the “course of history is unstoppable, and attempts by the collective West to enforce its version of the global order are doomed to fail.”
