Putin claims Ukraine is disrupting peace talks with Russia and calls country "dictatorship"
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine was doing everything possible to disrupt peace and negotiations with Russia while also seeking to interfere with elections in Russia.
He made the remarks at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission, Censor.NET reports.
Claims about Ukrainian authorities
The Kremlin leader alleged that Ukraine’s political regime had "turned into a dictatorship" and that the country was run by a "handful of embezzlers" interested in prolonging the war.
He claimed that Ukraine was not holding elections and that power had allegedly been usurped to remain in office without elections, continue "robbing its own people" and receive money from Europe.
Putin also questioned Ukraine’s right to describe itself as a defender of democratic values in Europe, calling the claim "strange". He alleged that the Ukrainian leadership was in no hurry to hold elections while seeking to obstruct elections in Russia itself.
Nuclear triad
The Russian dictator said strengthening the nuclear triad remained one of the priorities of Russia’s new State Armament Programme. According to him, the programme’s main directions were determined by developments around the world, the experience of the war against Ukraine and global trends in military technology.
Putin claimed: "Hardly any nuclear power in the world can boast figures such as those of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces — 92 percent (...) modern armaments."
Another key focus of the new state programmes, he said, would be improving the air defence system, which should ensure the destruction of any means of aerospace attack.
Background
- As a reminder, on September 8, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin held a phone call with US President Donald Trump. They discussed Ukraine and the outcomes of visits by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv.
- On September 10, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that there would be "no truly serious negotiations" with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine during the Russian State Duma election period.
- Zelenskyy said he hoped to see the first results of the negotiations by the end of September. He added that US representatives sought to achieve "substantial steps" in talks on ending the war before winter.
