Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that his military operation in Ukraine is taking longer than expected but said he has succeeded in seizing new territory and that his country's nuclear weapons are deterring the escalation of the conflict.
Putin said that it could be a long process, because of the more than 9 month-old war that began with Russia's invasion on February 24 and has displaced millions from their homes, and killed and wounded tens of thousands. He made no sign of letting up despite his length, vowing to fight for our interests and to protect ourselves using all means available. He stated that he had no choice but to send troops, saying that for years the West responded to Russia's security demands with only spit in the face. Putin described the land gains as a significant result for Russia and said that the Sea of Azov has become Russia's internal sea. In one of his frequent historical references to a Russian leader he admires, he added that Peter the Great fought to get access to that body of water.
After failing to capture Kyiv due to fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russia seized broad swaths of southern Ukraine at the beginning of the invasion, and captured the key Sea of Azov port of Mariupol in May after a nearly three-month siege. In September, Putin illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions, even though his forces didn't completely control them: Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south and Donetsk and Luhansk in the east. He illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
In response to an increasing amount of advanced Western weapons, economic, political and humanitarian aid to Kyiv and what he saw as Western leaders inflammatory statements, Putin has repeatedly hinted at his potential use of nuclear weapons. Putin was quiet when a member of the Human Rights Council asked him Wednesday to pledge that Russia would not be the first to use such weapons. He said Russia would not be able to use nuclear weapons at all if it agreed not to use them first and then come under a nuclear strike.
If it doesn't use it first under any circumstances, it means that it won't be the second to use it, because the possibility of using it in case of a nuclear strike on our territory will be very limited, he said.