Vladimir Putin Says To Ukraine That Invasion Has Barely Begun

Vladimir Putin made a statement on Thursday indicating that Russia is in for the long haul with its deadly invasion of Ukraine. Putin said menacingly that the Russian Army has “not yet started anything serious in Ukraine,” while giving a speech to Russian parliament members.

Ukraine would have to agree to territorial concessions to stop the invasion, which include giving Russia sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula and two separatist regions in the east of the country. Russia has also been focusing its invasion on these regions, and recently took control of most of the province of Luhansk.

Putin also said Ukraine and “the West” are guilty of “this is why they have used terrorism, separatism and internal destructive forces in our country.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared on CNN and made it clear that “Ukrainians are not ready to give up their land as new territories of the Russian Federation. This is our land. We have always said this, and we will never give it up.” He also said that a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden “would truly help the Ukrainians,” but acknowledged that Biden’s team has reasonable security concerns about pulling that off.

“Every night, you have to be in a bomb shelter because of the air sirens, and it’s all over the country,” Zelensky also told Wolf Blitzer while speaking about the effect of the war on his children. “That applies not just to my children, but to all Ukrainian children these days. This is grown-up challenges they’re going through.”