2022 is about to pass, and today, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has lasted for a full 10 months. When the war reaches this point, everyone should understand the fact that this is not a war between Russia and Ukraine at all, but a struggle between Russia and the entire NATO group. This is a unilateral proxy war planned by the United States.
Every day the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, Russia will suffer more losses, and Putin will have more worries.
So it is not difficult to see that compared to when the conflict first broke out, Putin is now speaking out on the situation more and more frequently.
On December 22, local time, Putin attended the Youth Policy Meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin and answered reporters’ questions after the meeting. During the
period, when talking about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Putin said that Russia's goal was not to "turn the flywheel of military conflict", but to end this "war" . Putin also emphasized that Russia has been working hard on this and will continue to work hard.
Putin’s words were undoubtedly the most important speech at the press conference that day.
You must know that since the conflict broke out, Russian officials have been using "special military operations against Ukraine" to refer to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Even Putin signed a decree specifically criminalizing the use of "misleading terms". Once convicted, he will face up to 15 years in prison.
But this time, Putin broke his own rules. For the first time in public, he used "war" to describe the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.. Although
is just a word difference, the meaning is completely different.
Russia has never officially declared war on Ukraine, and Putin has not declared that Russia has entered a state of war. The use of "special military operations" is reasonable and can also highlight Russia's "justice."
But if "war" is used to describe the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it means that Russia violated international law and launched an "aggressive" war against Ukraine.
Therefore, as soon as Putin made this statement, Western public opinion quickly exploded.
The U.S. State Department responded that after 300 days of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Putin finally announced the true flavor of this war. As the next step in acknowledging reality, Russia should withdraw its troops from Ukraine as soon as possible to end this "unjust" war.
However, some US government officials believe that Putin's use of "war" to describe the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was not intentional, but was more likely a "slip of the tongue."
As the saying goes, the speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention. But whether Putin made a slip of the tongue or deliberately described the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a "war," this incident shows that as the Russia-Ukraine conflict enters its 10th month, the pressure Putin faces is no longer something that can be described in words.
Although the Kremlin once again emphasized not long ago that the only way for the special military operation against Ukraine to end is for Russia to achieve its set goals, namely the demilitarization, denazification, and neutralization of Ukraine (commitment not to join NATO ).
But in other channels, senior Russian officials, including Putin, are also sending signals that Russia is willing to negotiate.
Just on December 25, Putin said in an interview with a Russian state television program that Moscow is not resistant to negotiations on the situation in Ukraine and is willing to negotiate with all relevant parties. Please note that Putin said "all relevant parties", which means that Russia is willing to negotiate not only with Ukraine, but also with the United States and NATO.
On the same day, Russian Finance Minister Siluanov also said in an interview that Russia is willing to have a dialogue with Western countries on the issue of mutual unfreezing of assets..
Siluanov said that Russia can provide "what it wants" to the West, but it all depends on the attitude and willingness of the West.
Recently, Western sanctions against Russia have been increased again.
After the European Union froze Russia's 300 billion euros in reserves, the U.S. Congress recently passed an amendment to allow the seizure and sale of Russian citizens' assets in the United States, and use the proceeds from the sale to aid Ukraine.
In addition, the West has also reached consensus on setting a "maximum price ceiling" for Russian oil and natural gas.
Under such circumstances, although Russia explicitly calls Western sanctions "foolish behavior," people with a discerning eye know very well how much impact these severe Western sanctions have on Russia as a major energy exporting country.
Putin knows this better than anyone else. Therefore, it is not difficult to glean from his recent statements that Russia's situation is becoming increasingly difficult.
Of course, the situation between Ukraine and the West is also very difficult. The key lies in who compromises first.
This terrible war, this terrible world.
