Peace talks with Ukraine have reached a "dead end," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, using his first extended remarks about the war in nearly a month to insist that Russia will persist with its invasion.
He was even blunter later Tuesday, repeating the term and saying, "It's become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian."
Speaking at a news conference at a spaceport in Russia's Far East, Putin said that Ukraine had changed its position after the round of peace talks held in Istanbul on March 29, adopting a stance that was no longer acceptable to the Kremlin. While there were indications that Ukraine had this week again adopted a more constructive stance, he said, Russia's "military operation will continue until its full completion" and until its goals are met.
Those goals, he said, centered on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian and Western officials expect that Russia will soon mount an intense offensive.
While Russia's initial offensive was widely seen as a failure because its forces failed to take Kyiv and had to retreat, Putin insisted on Tuesday -- as he did in the first weeks of the war -- that what he calls the "special military operation" was going "according to plan."
"We will act rhythmically and calmly, according to the plan that was initially proposed by the general staff," Putin said. "Our goal is to help the people who live in the Donbas, who feel their unbreakable bond with Russia."