According to the Kremlin website, at a annual meeting of the Valda International Debate Club on October 1st local time, Russian President Putin stated that he disagreed with the proposal of Ukraine stopping attacks on Russian refineries in exchange for Russia stopping attacks on Ukrainian ships.
Putin first spoke of the situation in the Black Sea. According to him, Russia previously mainly targeted military ships and vessels carrying military supplies. Subsequently, Ukraine began attacking Russian oil tankers and other vessels transporting civilian goods.
Putin RT
"For the first 10 days, they sank over 40 of our ships. After that, we suffered damage to over 100 more. Putin said, "Following this, Russia retaliated, but various channels are now saying, 'Stop!' But that's when they started."
He also quoted a statement from the Soviet era: “So continue, fascists… grab a hand grenade from a Soviet soldier. Now they don’t like it anymore.”
Then, Putin shifted the topic to the attack on Russian refineries.
"Oil refinery is also the same." He said, as U.S. began hitting Russian oil refineries, "they directly announced their target was to cause losses to our economy."
Regarding whether these attacks achieved their purpose, Putin replied: "Some did."
According to our estimates, we have lost approximately 1% of our GDP, said Putin. The refinery is a civil facility, and Russia has since responded in kind, beginning to target targets that are important for Ukraine’s economy.
He subsequently claimed that after the Russian strikes, Ukraine “in fact no longer has a metallurgical industry”. Putin also said that the related facilities are dual-use, as the metals produced locally are used not only for manufacturing rails and building materials, but also for producing weapons.
When talking about the current plan to stop mutual attacks, Putin said that some people have proposed that Ukraine should stop attacking Russian refineries, and Russia should stop attacking Ukrainian ships, so that these ships can transport civilian goods and agricultural products.
Putin then asked, what about the civilian goods that transport oil and refined oil in Russia?
"They said that they will no longer target the oil refineries, so diesel will be more available. For example, the United States now needs diesel heavily. Putin said that the diesel will only increase here, and we already have enough diesel at our disposal. It will not enter the world market because sanctions remain in place."
According to Putin, in this situation, Russia should stop attacking 'sensitive' targets of Ukraine.
This looks utterly absurd. He said.
"When the scene was once again asked if he was willing to accept this mutually halting attack scheme, Putin replied: 'No.'"
Recently, Ukraine has continuously used remote drones to attack Russian refineries and other energy facilities. In return, Russia has continued to strike Ukrainian energy, industrial, and transportation facilities.
In addition to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Putin also responded to discussions regarding the Kaliningrad region on that day.
He said that in the documents sent by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to some NATO countries earlier, ‘nuclear weapons were not mentioned’. Instead, it was stated that Russia would use ‘all means available’ if necessary.
"We did not threaten anyone." Putin said, "This is a response to those attempting to frighten us."
He said that if the situation develops to the point of ‘direct attacks on the Russian Federation’, whether it involves Saint Petersburg or any other Russian territory, ‘the issue of Russia using all weapons at its disposal will be unavoidable and must be brought up immediately’.
Putin also mentioned that Western countries have recently carried out military exercises in the Baltic Sea, tried to seize Russian ships, and made statements regarding Kaliningrad. He said that all these actions are contributing to an escalation of the situation.
"We do not threaten anyone, and we are not preparing to attack anyone in 2029, 2030 or 2050. Putin said this, "But if we are attacked, we will have no choice but to respond."
