President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has assured journalists that Moscow will achieve its goals in Ukraine
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russia is not seeking to depose the current Ukrainian government, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has revealed. He has also expressed confidence that Moscow will achieve its goals in the country, without specifying what they are.
When asked by Russian journalists on Monday whether the Kremlin sees a regime change in Kiev as one of its military campaign’s objectives, Peskov replied “No, the president has already spoken about that.”
The official went on to stress that Russia was determined to achieve its goals in Ukraine, which can be done “by various methods and in various formats.”
He also assured reporters that it was not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.
Earlier, in an interview to AIF newspaper, Vice Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev theorized that relations between Moscow and Kiev could only normalize after a change of leadership in Ukraine. He claimed that the current government in Kiev lacked flexibility and was bound by its previous actions and ideology.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc.
Russian President Vladimir Putin named the demilitarization and ‘denazification’ of Ukraine as the key objectives of the military campaign. He also spoke of the need to protect the Russian-speaking population of Donbass.
Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked. Western countries supporting Kiev have repeatedly accused the Kremlin of seeking to topple Vladimir Zelensky’s government and replace it with a puppet regime.
