The Russian president affirmed that Moscow was continuing its advances on the front, in a context of intensifying cross strikes with Ukraine, while reaffirming its availability for negotiations with kyiv.
Russia must “better” et “reinforcer” its anti-aircraft defense, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday, the day after Ukrainian drone strikes against an oil complex and a naval base in Saint Petersburg (northwest).
“Russia has an anti-aircraft defense system. Yes, we need to improve it. Yes, we must strengthen it, and we will do it.”declared Vladimir Putin during a meeting with international media officials, including AFP, on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg.
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Ukraine regularly targets Russia and the territories occupied by Moscow in retaliation for the daily Russian bombings to which it has been subject since the start of the large-scale Russian offensive in February 2022. Vladimir Putin has also said he is considering extending the use of the ballistic missile to intermediate range (IRBM) Orechnik to target Ukrainian cities.
A meeting with Ukraine still possible
Vladimir Putin repeated that this missile, already used three times without charge against Ukraine, was capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Russian head of state affirmed that he was always ready to negotiate an exit from the conflict with kyiv, “based on what we discussed during the meeting with President (US Donald) Trump†à Anchorage en août 2025.
Moscow is demanding political and territorial concessions from the Ukrainian government, including a complete withdrawal from the Donetsk region which forms part of Donbass. Demands rejected by kyiv, which equates them with capitulation. According to Vladimir Putin, an agreement to end the conflict does not exclude total control by Moscow over the Donbass, a mining basin in eastern Ukraine today partially under Russian control. “One does not exclude the other”he told journalists. The Russian leader also affirmed that Moscow’s troops were advancing “across the entire front line”.
An AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shows, however, that Ukraine took back some 282 km2 from the Russians in May, reducing for the second month in a row the area of its territory controlled by Moscow, which had been gaining ground since the fall of 2023. The retreat of Moscow’s forces reported by the ISW is however not complete: Russian soldiers remain infiltrated in most of the areas where Ukraine has regained ground.
/2026/06/12/6a2bd18d8af1c253720555.jpg "\"Is he a genius in the art of the deal or is he talking nonsense?\"Donald Trump’s strategy against Iran raises questions, according to a geopolitical scientist")
/2026/06/12/6a2bf4e1c1df0409196392.png "Ukraine strikes Tatarstan, in central Russia, 1,600 km from its border")
