"Kyiv does not want peace"

“Representatives of the Kyiv regime, the leadership in Kyiv, talk about peace and propose supposedly resuming negotiations, but at the same time they are doing everything to prevent peace and ensure that there are no negotiations,” Putin said at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission.

Speaking about the death of Yelena Astanina, chairwoman of an electoral commission in the Zaporizhzhia region, who was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack ahead of the State Duma elections, Putin said that Russia cannot be intimidated.

“It is unclear why they are doing this in the first place—to intimidate us? It is clear to everyone that this is impossible,” the Russian president said, according to RIA Novosti.

Peter Kovalev / Zuma Press / Profimedia

He also said that the main priorities of the new state armament program had been determined taking into account developments in the world, lessons from the war in Ukraine, and global trends in the development of military technologies.

He singled out strengthening Russia’s nuclear triad as one of the priorities, saying it remains a guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty and plays a key role in maintaining the balance of power in the world.

Putin also said that Russia’s air defense system should be upgraded so that it can respond to various means of air and space attack.

Speaking about relations with Europe, Putin said that Russia has no aggressive intentions toward European countries and is ready to cooperate and restore relations with its European neighbors.

“We are ready to cooperate and restore relations with our European neighbors. I want to say once again that Russia has no aggressive intentions toward Europe or European countries. We simply have no grounds for that,” the Russian leader emphasized.

At the same time, he criticized some European leaders for what he described as statements about preparations for war with Russia, saying that they were attempting to justify increased spending on Ukraine and conceal problems in economic and social policy.

Putin also emphasized that the Ukrainian authorities benefit from the continuation of the war in order to remain in power, while accusing European leaders of using Ukrainians as “cannon fodder.”

At the meeting, the Russian president announced that a draft of a new state armament program and a program for the development of the defense-industrial complex would be considered. The programs are intended to serve as the basis for the development and mass production of modern weapons systems and military equipment.