Russian President outlines core goals of military campaign...

In an interview with VGTRK television, President Putin stated that Russia has enough forces to complete the special military operation in Ukraine and achieve the set goals. He emphasized that the goal of the operation is to "eliminate the root causes of this crisis, create the foundation for a long-term and sustainable peace and ensure the security of Russia."

President Putin has repeatedly called for a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, stressing the need to take into account Russia's interests when eliminating the root causes of the crisis. According to him, this is the only way to establish lasting peace .

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: THX/TTXVN

On May 16, Russia and Ukraine held direct negotiations in Istanbul, Türkiye, after a hiatus of more than 3 years. After the negotiations with Ukraine, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, announced that Russia was satisfied with the results achieved and was ready to continue contact. According to him, the parties agreed to exchange prisoners according to the formula "1,000 for 1,000".

Mr. Medinsky also said that the Ukrainian side had requested direct negotiations between the leaders of the two countries and Russia had accepted this request to consider it. He noted that Moscow and Kiev would present their visions of a possible future ceasefire and each side would "write about it in detail." The head of the Russian delegation stated that after this event, Russia and Ukraine intend to continue the negotiation process.

In a related development, on May 17, Russian media quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that preparations are underway for a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

The statement came after Mr. Trump tweeted that he would discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine with Mr. Putin on May 19, and then talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders of several North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states. The most recent phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin took place on March 18.

Earlier, also on May 17, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, in which he emphasized Washington's commitment to efforts to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. After the phone call, Mr. Rubio said Moscow was preparing a document outlining its demands for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in an interview with CBS News, Secretary of State Rubio said that President Trump wants to hold a meeting with Mr. Putin as soon as possible. The top US diplomat said that currently, Washington and Moscow need to determine the time, location of the meeting as well as the main topics of discussion.

VNA

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Source: https://baodaknong.vn/tong-thong-nga-neu-muc-tieu-cot-loi-cua-chien-dich-quan-su-dac-biet-tai-ukraine-252926.html