By Independent News Roundup
Andrew KorybkoJun 22, 2025
The past 1,200+ days since the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine have seen the West fearmonger about Putin’s alleged intentions to take over all of that country. They must have therefore been very displeased by him clarifying Russian policy towards Ukraine during his remarks at the plenary session of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. In his words, “we are not seeking capitulation from Ukraine. We insist on recognition of the realities that have developed on the ground.”
This is a reaffirmation of his demand that Ukraine must recognize Russian control over the entirety of the disputed regions and withdraw from those parts that it’s still occupying in order to end the conflict. He also added that Ukraine needs to restore its non-aligned, non-nuclear, and neutral status that it agreed to after independence. About that, Putin reminded everyone that “we have never questioned their right - the right of the Ukrainian people to independence and sovereignty.”
This aligns with his summer 2021 magnum opus “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians”, which he also referenced with regard to his remark that “I have said many times that I consider the Russian and Ukrainian people to be one people in reality. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours.” Those words, his quip the “old rule” that “where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours”, and him not ruling out “taking Sumy”, however, will likely dominate Western media coverage of his comments.
The context within which he shared those statements, which Western media will predictably omit, reveals that he has no expansionist intentions: “At every stage, we suggested to those with whom we were in contact in Ukraine to stop and said: let’s negotiate now, because this logic of developing purely military actions can lead to your situation getting worse, and then we will have to conduct our negotiations from other positions, from positions that are worse for you. This happened several times.”
Likewise, he told the heads of international news agencies a few days prior that “the logic of the combat operations” led to Russian forces sweeping into the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, but he initially considered restoring some form of Ukrainian sovereignty there in early 2022. That never happened though because Ukraine continued fighting at former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s instigation, which he claimed during the plenary session was actually at the Biden Administration’s behest.
None of the aforesaid context is expected to be included in the Western media’s coverage of his comments since it discredits their fearmongering. Far from wanting to take over all of Ukraine, Putin just wants to remove Western-originating threats to Russia’s security from there, to which end he repeated his demand that Ukraine restore its non-aligned, non-nuclear, and neutral status. The territorial aspect of the conflict is only the result of “military logic” making this a fait accompli as the conflict dragged on.
Russia’s goals, which were dishonestly misportrayed by the West from the get-go, therefore remain the same: Putin essentially aims to return Ukraine to where it was over a third of a century ago when it became independent and hadn’t yet been transformed by the West into what he calls the “anti-Russia”. Going back further than that to when Ukraine was still a Soviet Republic isn’t part of his plans, but “military logic” might lead to more parts of it returning to Russia if a peace deal isn’t soon agreed to.
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