The invasion of Ukraine has yet to start “in earnest”, President Putin said as he dismissed the impact of economic sanctions on Russia and the prospect of defeat.
He made the statement in a speech to senior politicians yesterday, claiming that the West wanted to see the war continue until Russia was fighting “the last Ukrainian”, which he said would be a tragedy. There was still a possibility of a peace agreement, several weeks after talks between the two sides broke down, he added. “We don’t reject peace talks. But those who reject them should know that the further it goes, the harder it will be for [the Ukrainians] to negotiate with us. We hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What
