Comments aired ahead of Putin’s three-day ceasefire, as Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says he does ‘not believe’ Russia will stick to pledge.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that there has so far been no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, expressing “hope” that they will not be required.
Putin said his country had enough “strength and means” to bring the three-year war, sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to a “logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires”. His comments were part of a documentary marking his quarter century in power by state television channel Rossiya 1 that was released on Sunday.
Responding to a question from journalist Pavel Zarubin about the Russian response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, Putin said: “There has been no need to use those [nuclear] weapons … and I hope they will not be required.”
His comments came ahead of his unilaterally declared three-day ceasefire over May 8-10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War II, an initiative that he claimed would test Kyiv’s readiness for long-term peace.
Moscow earlier rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposed by Kyiv and Washington in March.
‘No faith’
Speaking during a visit to the Czech Republic, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he did “not believe” Russia would adhere to its truce. “This is not the first challenge, nor are these the first promises made by Russia to cease fire,” he said.
“Today and all these days they are talking about wanting some kind of partial ceasefire, but you should know, for example, that the number of assaults today is the highest in recent months,” Zelenskyy said, citing a military report showing Russia had carried out more than 200 attacks on Saturday.
“So there is no faith [in them],” he said, calling on Kyiv’s allies to increase pressure on Russia at a joint press conference with Czech President Petr Pavel on day one of his two-day visit to the country.
Pavel, a former NATO general, said Putin could end the war with “a single decision”, but he had not shown any “willingness” to do so.
Continued strikes
With the two countries still at odds over competing ceasefire proposals, hostilities persist.
Russia fired two ballistic missiles and a total of 165 exploding drones and decoys overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Of those, 69 were intercepted and a further 80 lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
Two people were killed by Russian guided bombs Sunday, one each in the and Sumy regions, Ukrainian officials said.
A Russian drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, wounded 11 people, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Sunday.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 13 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The governor of Russia’s Bryansk region said Ukrainian forces struck an electrical equipment factory close to the border with Ukraine, destroying much of the plant but causing no casualties.
