The timing of the military offensive in Ukraine is determined by the intensity of hostilities and Russia will act according to its plan, President Vladimir Putin explained on Tuesday, during a joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.
“I often get these questions, ‘can’t we hurry it up?’ We can. But it depends on the intensity of hostilities and, any way you put it, the intensity of hostilities is directly related to casualties,” said the Russian president.
He added that “our task is to achieve the set goals while minimizing these losses. We will act rhythmically, calmly, and according to the plan that was initially proposed by the General Staff.”
Putin reiterated that Russia’s actions in several regions of Ukraine were intended only to tie down enemy forces and carry out missile strikes with the purpose of destroying the Ukrainian military’s infrastructure, so as to “create conditions for more active operations on the territory of Donbass.”
While thanking the Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine for their “heroic service to their homeland,” and for protecting Russia’s interests, Putin stated that “a confrontation with the forces that were being brought up by the West in Ukraine, a confrontation with radical nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine, was inevitable” and that it was only a matter of time.