Putin takes advantage of the confusion. "All of Ukraine is ours"

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Friday at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that Russians and Ukrainians are the same people and in that sense "all of Ukraine" belongs to Russia.

Asked about the goal Moscow wants to achieve in the war against Ukraine, Putin said that Russians have a saying: "Wherever a Russian soldier steps, that is ours."

The Russian leader also stated that Moscow was not seeking Ukraine's capitulation, but only that Kiev "recognize the real" situation that had occurred on the battlefield.

He warned that using a dirty bomb against Russia "would be a colossal mistake (...) perhaps the last mistake (of the Ukrainians)".

"Our response would be disastrous for the authorities and, unfortunately, disastrous for Ukraine itself."

Asked if he feared the world was heading toward a world war, he said he was concerned about the "growing potential for conflict" and was also concerned about what was happening around the nuclear facilities that Russian specialists were building in Iran. He also mentioned Russia's war against Ukraine and the Israeli-Iranian conflict as potential flashpoints.

"It's worrying. I say this without any irony, without joking. Of course, there is a very big possibility of conflict, which is growing, it's happening under our noses and it directly affects us," he added.

He noted that while Russia does not intend to be a mediator in the latest war in the Middle East, it is in contact with "Israel and Iranian friends" , presents various proposals to both sides of the conflict and "will be happy if they turn out to be attractive to both countries".

"We defend Iran's right to peaceful atomic energy (...). We have built a reactor in Iran, in Bushehr (...) and regardless of the complexity of the situation and the obvious danger, we continue this work. We will not evacuate our personnel," Putin added.

Asked whether the war against Ukraine was killing Russia's economy, he replied that reports of its death were greatly exaggerated, echoing a famous quote by Mark Twain.

He recalled that his country's economic growth was 4.1 percent last year, but he also admitted that he believes Russia will end the year with inflation reaching 7 percent. Reuters points out that it currently stands at 9.5 percent, but has been gradually falling since April. (PAP)

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