President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reiterated his position that Russia did not start the war in Ukraine but launched what it calls a "special military operation" to try to stop it.
In his yearly speech to the Valdai Discussion Club, being held in Sochi, Putin said Russia, the world's largest country by area, had no need to take territory from Ukraine.
He said the conflict was not therefore imperial or territorial but about the global order, and that the West, which had lost its hegemonic power and always needed an enemy, had lost touch with reality.
I’m guessing that Reuters request for an interview was turned down. Sometimes all you need is three lines. If this was a CNN article or Fox News it would be 10 paragraphs of saying nothing but recapping Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also adding this in. I find it to be a fine article to point out how Putin is interacting with his international cohorts. It’s to the point and says what needs to be said