President Vladimir Putin said that the conflict originated from the coup d'etat in Kiev in 2014 and lasted because Kiev refused to respect the rights of the people of the Donbass region.
We are ready and open to ending the conflict by peaceful means in a way that eliminates the root causes of the crisis, Putin said.
According to President Putin, Russia is taking a strong strategic initiative on the ground after pushing Ukrainian forces back from Russia's Kursk province this spring.
Mr. Putin said that recent advances on the ground, along with the control of the town of Seversk, have helped the Russian army have a direct route to the city of Slavyansk in the Donbass region, a key center of the region.
President Putin added that Russia's control of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) in Donbass also opens up significant opportunities for the Russian army, adding that the Russian army has completely surrounded Dmitrov. "I think our forces have now taken control of 50% of the town," he said.
President Putin also said that Kiev had refused to sign a peace agreement during negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey in 2022 and has so far continued to resist the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
