Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Wednesday, December 7, that the conflict in Ukraine was “long” and relativized the risk of recourse to nuclear weapons. The Russian president hinted that Russia would not use it first, but only “in response” to a possible enemy strike of this type on its territory.
The head of the Kremlin also returned to the mobilization of 300,000 reservists, civilians therefore, noting that only half were immediately deployed in Ukraine. The announcement of the mobilization had provoked an exodus of Russians abroad and revealed the army’s serious equipment problems.
Vladimir Putin announces that 150,000 reservists have been mobilized and acknowledges that the conflict will be “a long process”
Russia has deployed in Ukraine nearly half of the men recruited during the partial mobilization of reservists, or about 150,000 soldiers, Vladimir Putin announced. “Out of 300,000 of our mobilized fighters, our men, our defenders of the Fatherland, 150,000 are in the area of operation”, said the Russian president during a televised meeting, specifying that 77,000 are deployed directly in combat. The other 150,000 are still being trained in Russia.
He acknowledged that the conflict in Ukraine was “long”, while boasting of “meaningful results” in reference to the annexation he claims of four Ukrainian regions. “Of course, it’s a long process,” said Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting with his Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, a pro-Kremlin assembly.
Responding to one of his interlocutors, Vladimir Putin noted that “the emergence of new territories” was a “significant result for Russia”. He also referred to the four Ukrainian regions which he claimed to be annexed at the end of September, although Russia only partially controls them and fighting is raging there with the forces of kyiv.
The Russian president assures that he will only use nuclear weapons in response to an enemy strike
The Russian president hinted that Russia would not use nuclear weapons first, but only “in response” to a possible enemy strike of this type on its territory. “We considered weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, as a means of defence. [Y recourir] is built around what is called the ‘retaliatory strike’: if we are struck, we are struck in response”Vladimir Putin said in a televised meeting.
The United States has called“irresponsible” the sayings “lightly” of the Russian President. Refusing to respond directly to Vladimir Putin, US State Department spokesman Ned Price pointed out that “any light talk about nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible.”
Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” personalities of the year 2022 for Time magazine
The President of Ukraine, who embodied his country’s resistance to the invasion of Russia, has been named personality of the year 2022 by the American magazine Timewho also paid tribute to the“spirit of Ukraine”.
“Whether the battle for Ukraine engenders hope or fear, Volodymyr Zelensky has galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades”wrote Time editor Edward Felsenthal, for whom the choice had no “never been so clear” than this year.
“For proving that courage can be as contagious as fear, for inspiring people and nations to unite in defense of freedom, for reminding the world of the fragility of democracy – and peace – Volodymyr Zelensky and the Spirit of Ukraine are TIME’s 2022 Person of the Year“, adds the New York-based magazine.
Brussels wants to add the Russian army and three banks to its sanctions list
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed adding nearly 200 individuals and entities to the EU sanctions list against Moscow, including Russia’s armed forces and three of the country’s banks.
“The eight sanctions packages adopted so far are already hurting [à la Russie]. But today we are increasing the pressure” in response to the war in Ukraine, she said.
This ninth package of measures still needs to be unanimously approved by the 27 EU member countries. The new sanctions will be added in particular to the total embargo on imports of Russian oil transported by sea, which entered into force this week, and to the global cap on the price of Russian oil decided with the G7 and Australia.