Putin says entire Ukraine belongs to Russia

ST. PETERSBURG,— Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that all of Ukraine belongs to Russia, and suggested that Russian troops could move on the northern city of Sumy, as Moscow pushes to establish a buffer zone along its border.

The remarks came during a panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where Putin addressed the ongoing conflict and reiterated his view that Ukraine’s statehood is historically tied to Russia. “Russians and Ukrainians are one people,” he said. “In that sense, the whole of Ukraine is ours.”

Putin claimed that Russia is not seeking to take Sumy, a regional center near the northeastern border, but did not rule out future action.

“We don’t have the task of taking Sumy,” he said, “but in principle I don’t exclude it.” He said Russian forces were currently focused on creating a secure zone to protect Russian border regions.

Ukraine’s leadership responded with sharp criticism. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in English on the platform X that Putin’s “cynical statements” show “complete disdain for U.S. peace efforts.”

Sybiha accused Moscow of actively planning further territorial expansion and ignoring international calls to end hostilities.

“While the United States and the world community call for an immediate ceasefire, Russia’s top war criminal openly discusses further invasions and more Ukrainian deaths,”

Sybiha stated. He added that wherever Russian forces move, “they bring only death, destruction, and devastation.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his daily video update, echoed Sybiha’s remarks and said the Kremlin is uninterested in negotiations.

“Russia openly and shamelessly says it does not want a ceasefire,” Zelensky said. “They want to continue the war.”

He noted that military leaders in Kyiv are closely monitoring developments in the Sumy region. “Russia has plans and intentions that are, as usual, completely irrational,” Zelensky said. “Our forces are holding them back and defending our Sumy region.”

Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, expanding a conflict that had already simmered in the eastern Donbas region for nearly a decade. Since then, Moscow has taken control of approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

This includes the entire Crimean Peninsula, the vast majority of Luhansk, and substantial areas of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Russian troops are also present in limited zones within the regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk.

Putin emphasized that he is not questioning Ukraine’s right to independence, but noted that its 1991 declaration of sovereignty included a commitment to neutrality, which he claims has been abandoned.

He said peace could only be possible if Ukraine accepts the current “realities on the ground”—Moscow’s term for the territorial gains it holds.

He cited a Russian saying to illustrate the Kremlin’s position: “Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that land is ours.”

Kyiv and Western governments reject this stance, calling Russia’s claims illegal. Zelensky has repeatedly said he will not accept any agreement based on territorial concessions, calling such proposals “surrender in disguise.”

(With files from Reuters)