President Vladimir Putin defended Russia's assault on Ukraine in a rare public appearance on Tuesday. 'Its goals are absolutely clear and noble,' Putin said.
Russia, he said, would "rhythmically and calmly" continue its operation.
In the strongest signal to date that the war will grind on for longer, Putin on Tuesday said Kyiv had derailed peace talks by staging what he said were fake claims of Russian war crimes and by demanding security guarantees to cover the whole of Ukraine.Putin speaks with employees at the Vostochny cosmodrome, where he marked the anniversary of Soviet success in launching the first manned space flight.
In Tuesday's remarks, he appeared to draw an analogy between cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first space flight 61 years ago and Russia's defiance of Western economic sanctions today."The sanctions were total, the isolation was complete, but the Soviet Union was still first in space," said Putin, 69, recalling his own wonderment as a schoolboy learning of the achievement.
Lukashenko also dismissed the impact of sanctions. "Why on earth are we getting so worried about these sanctions?" he said.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Can Russia reboot Ukraine war in time for Putin to claim a victory?Russian President Vladimir Putin has a new general overseeing his war in Ukraine, and his military commanders are signalling a new phase in the war: an all-out effort to take and hold the portions of Ukraine's Donbas region still under Ukrainian control.
Read more »
Putin jails Russian spy chief over alleged leaks to U.S. regarding Ukraine war\u0027It\u0027s a tradition of sorts: If you screw up, you need to look for traitors to blame it on. So they started looking for spies\u0027
Read more »