Putin rejects halt to long-range strikes in war against Ukraine — Al Jazeera

Russian President Vladimir Putin — the leader of the aggressor state — rejected the possibility of halting long-range strikes in the war against Ukraine at the Valdai Political Forum in Moscow. He called absurd a proposal under which Ukraine would stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and Russia would stop strikes on Ukrainian vessels.

As Al Jazeera reports, the statement came after US President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on September 22. At the time, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv was ready to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities if Moscow halted attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Strikes on energy infrastructure

Putin said that Ukraine had “partially achieved its goals” through attacks on Russian oil refineries. He claimed that these strikes had cost Russia 1% of its gross domestic product and that Moscow was now responding with similar actions.

Russia has intensified long-range attacks, including against Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises and supply chains, primarily in the railway sector. Ukraine accuses Moscow of deliberately striking civilian sites. On Thursday, a Russian drone hit a school in Kyiv; according to city authorities, there were no casualties because children and staff were in a shelter.

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Putin also said that Russia allegedly prefers to end the war through negotiations and wants Ukraine to remain neutral after the end of hostilities.

Threats regarding Kaliningrad

Separately, Putin warned Western countries against escalation around the Kaliningrad region, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania. He said that in the event of a direct attack on the Russian Federation, including Kaliningrad, the issue of using all types of weapons available to Russia would arise immediately.

NATO said it received a diplomatic note from Russia this week in which Moscow warned that it was prepared to resort to nuclear weapons if the Alliance tried to cut off Kaliningrad from the rest of Russia’s territory. Putin also said that the escalation of reciprocal measures in international conflicts could quickly lead to a dangerous point after which the situation could not be changed.