Putin.

Putin.

To get ahead of this: I’m seeing interpretations that Putin started hedging on the prisoner exchange and may derail it. For my part, I did not see that. I hope I’m not mistaken.

In short: he spent a lot of time justifying himself and a lot of time threatening, Ukraine in particular, saying he would go as far as the western borders. He still believes he is winning. The only way to stop him is on the battlefield. Nothing new. Unfortunately.

1️⃣He justified himself.

▪️The parade was without military hardware because the Russian Armed Forces must focus on the final defeat of the enemy as part of the "special military operation."

▪️[Why did he not agree to Zelensky’s proposal to begin a ceasefire on May 6?] For us, May 9 is not a comedy show with people playing keyboard instruments, it is a sacred day.

2️⃣He warned the "partners" about strikes on decision-making centers in Kyiv.

▪️We outlined for our friends, colleagues, and partners [China, India, and the United States] the picture that could emerge. We have absolutely no desire to worsen relations, and that could have happened, because all decision-making centers in Kyiv are located in the immediate vicinity of diplomatic institutions.

3️⃣He threatened Armenia, comparing the consequences for it to Ukraine.

▪️Armenia could hold a referendum [on the EU]. In accordance with that, we too would draw conclusions and proceed along the path of a soft, civilized, and mutually beneficial divorce. Right now we are concerned about everything happening on the Ukrainian track, and where did it all start? With Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU.

4️⃣He tried to make it look as though the prisoner exchange was his initiative.

▪️We ourselves proposed the prisoner exchange, you can ask Bortnikov. On May 5, we passed our proposal to Ukraine and sent a list of 500 servicemen being held in the Russian Federation; the Ukrainians said outright that they were not ready.

▪️We extended the ceasefire for another two days in the hope of carrying out the exchange. I hope that in the end we will do it.

5️⃣He once again repeated that he would meet with Zelensky only to sign a capitulation.

▪️There was no particular message [from Zelensky via Fico]. I simply heard once again that Mr. Zelensky is ready to hold a personal meeting. But this is not the first time we’ve heard that. Please, let him come to Moscow.

▪️A meeting can also take place in a third country, but only when final agreements on a peace treaty for the historical long term have been reached.

6️⃣He again complained that they had been deceived, again brought up Boris Johnson. New this time: it turns out they withdrew troops from Kyiv because Macron asked them to.

▪️We were deceived about NATO’s eastward expansion. They are fighting us with Ukrainian hands.

▪️In Istanbul, we had already reached an agreement with the Ukrainians, initialed the agreement\, then Macron called and said Ukraine could not sign such documents with a gun to its head. We withdrew troops from Kyiv.

▪️Then another show-business representative arrived, the prime minister of Great Britain: you cannot sign, this agreement is unfair.

\This is a lie, Ukraine did not initial the Istanbul agreements, nor did Russia. They remained only a draft with capitulationist terms for Ukraine, - editor’s note.

7️⃣He said "it is moving toward completion," but at the same time gave an affirmative answer to a question about Ukraine’s western borders. Obviously, for him the end of the war means Ukraine’s western borders.

▪️They promised assistance [to Ukraine] and began stoking a confrontation with Russia that continues to this day. I think it is moving toward completion, but still, this is a serious matter.

▪️[To what limit should the security zone be expanded, perhaps all the way to Ukraine’s western borders?] Well, you just answered that question yourself. It needs to be done so that no one threatens us.

Some public pages simply put out the line "it is moving toward completion." It is not, based on what was said afterward, - editor’s note.

8️⃣He proposed his buddy Gerhard Schroeder as a negotiator with the EU.

9️⃣He threatened Finland, hinting that he would tell it to go fuck itself.

▪️Did we have territorial disputes with Finland? So why did they join NATO? In the hope that everything here would collapse and they’d be right there, snatch-grab. And now they’re already building a border along the Sestra River. I’d make a certain gesture and say a few things too, but since I come from the cultural capital, I will refrain.