President Vladimir Putin said Russia would achieve its strategic goals in Ukraine as he insisted the country was united behind his war.
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“Truth and justice are on our side,” Putin said Friday at the May 9 Victory Day military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. “The entire country, society, and people support the participants” of the war in Ukraine, and “that strength of spirit has always brought us only victory”.
Russia “will always rely on our unity in military and peaceful affairs, in achieving strategic goals, in solving tasks in the name of Russia, its greatness and prosperity,” Putin told thousands of troops assembled on Moscow’s Red Square.
Putin spoke after US President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a 30-day ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine to allow for talks on a lasting peace deal. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he was willing to abide by a 30-day truce, Putin has so far resisted a halt to fighting while insisting on Russia’s maximalist demands in return for a settlement to the war that was in its fourth year.
“Hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed,” Trump said in a social media post. “If the ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions.”
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