Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will achieve its goals and dismissed the idea of war with the West. This comes as the European Union considers taking Russian funds to support Ukraine during a difficult fourth winter of the conflict.
In a meeting with Ministry of Defence officials, Putin, as reported by state media, called the West’s calls for war preparation “hysteria and a lie.” He stated that the Kremlin will definitely reach its war goals and mentioned that 300 territories were “liberated” last year.
Putin repeated that Moscow prefers to solve the root causes of the conflict through negotiation, but it is also ready to use military action to “liberate its historical lands” if the West does not engage in important discussions.
These comments come one day before EU leaders meet to discuss whether to use part of the 210 billion euros ($246 billion) in Russian central bank assets in Europe to support Ukraine’s economic and military needs.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers, “It is clear that we must decide on funding Ukraine for the next two years during this European Council meeting.”
European Council President António Costa, who will lead the summit, promised to keep the negotiations going until an agreement is reached, even if it takes several days.
European Union officials want to use frozen Russian assets to support a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan for Ukraine. However, some countries, like Belgium and Italy, have raised concerns about the legality of this idea and have either rejected it or expressed serious doubts.
In a speech to the Italian parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said negotiations in Berlin were “constructive.” She accused Russia of making unreasonable demands to keep Ukrainian territory in any agreements. She admitted that finding a legal way to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine is difficult. She stated that Italy needs a strong legal basis for any actions taken.
The UK Government will Donate £2.5 billion to the Ukrainians
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in the House of Commons that his government will officially instruct the transfer of £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea FC to help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Starmer said the Russian billionaire, who sold the club in 2022 due to pressure from the British government after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, must “pay up.”
On the battlefield, Ukraine said it had taken 90 percent of the town of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, which Russia claimed to have captured in November. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said during a televised meeting that Ukrainian forces were unsuccessfully trying to control Kupiansk.
Russia claims to control all of Crimea, about 90 percent of the eastern Donbas region (including Donetsk and Luhansk), and 75 percent of Kherson and Zaporizhia. Russia also holds some territories in the nearby regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv.
Recently, both Russia and Ukraine have increased their attacks on each other’s energy sites and oil refineries.
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