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Russia claimed it was unrealistic to believe that Ukraine could emerge victorious from the war, as the Russian military reported the capture of three additional villages along the extensive front line.
Moscow is looking to leverage its advantages in personnel and equipment, though progress in gaining territory has been slow and difficult.
Nearly four years after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both sides remain well-established in their positions. The Russian defence ministry announced on Monday that it had taken control of the villages of Slodkie and Nove in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, as well as Gnativka in the Donetsk region.
Peskov said that the conflict would end only when Russia fulfils its initial objectives.
“The Europeans believe that Ukraine can win the war and secure its interests through military means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. This is the deepest delusion of the Kyiv regime. The situation on the front indicates the opposite,” he said in a briefing call with reporters.
Moscow has claimed its actions are aimed at safeguarding Russian-speaking individuals in eastern Ukraine, preventing NATO’s eastward expansion, and eliminating “neo-Nazis” from Ukraine’s leadership—assertions that Kyiv and its Western allies have dismissed as unfounded.
They argue that this conflict, which has caused tens of thousands of fatalities and turned into the largest war in Europe since World War II, is merely an act of imperial land acquisition.
Attempts by US President Donald Trump to broker a peace agreement have hit an impasse. Russia has dismissed calls for a ceasefire or a reduction of its demands. Russian officials indicated they would only consider halting their military operations if Ukraine completely withdraws from the eastern Donbas region and renounces any Western military assistance.
Kyiv maintains that such conditions are unacceptable, equivalent to surrender, and would leave the country vulnerable to renewed Russian aggression.
