Moscow’s combat operations in the area are aimed at creating a “cordon sanitaire” on the border, the Russian president has said
Russia has no intention of capturing the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, which is close to the Russian border, President Vladimir Putin has said, as Moscow’s forces have been making gains in the area in recent days.
Speaking to reporters at the Harbin Institute of Technology during his two-day visit to China, Putin commented on Russia’s operations in Kharkov Region, asserting that Moscow is achieving success on the battlefield by acting “strictly according to plan.”
When asked about Russia’s goals there, Putin noted that Ukraine is to blame for recent fighting in the area, as it “unfortunately continues to shell residential blocks in the border areas, including Belgorod.”
“Civilians are dying out there. Everything is crystal clear. They are firing directly at the center of the city,” the president said, recalling that he had publicly warned Kiev that Russia would be forced to establish a “cordon sanitaire” in the areas under Kiev’s control if the attacks continued.
This is what we are doing. As for [the capture of] Kharkov, there are no such plans for today.
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