Russian dictator vladimir putin, during his speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 5, rejected the offer of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold talks on ending the war at the level of leaders and confirmed the Kremlin's desire to achieve its military goals in Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) analyzed putin's main statements.
Commenting on Zelenskyy's open letter, the dictator said that he "sees no point in meeting" with the Ukrainian President. He repeated the narrative about the "agreements" with the United States in Anchorage, on the basis of which the russian federation is supposedly ready to conclude a peace agreement.
ISW emphasizes that putin is using the lack of clear information about the summit in Alaska to falsely present russia as a country ready for peace talks.
Putin also confirmed his belief in the inevitability of a military "victory" for russian troops, despite data to the contrary. He stated that russian troops had captured "two thousand four hundred and forty thousand square kilometers" (this probably means 2,440 square kilometers, not 2.4 million square kilometers, which is an area much larger than Ukraine). According to him, the occupiers control 85% of the Donetsk Region, 80% of Zaporizhzhia Region, all of the Luhansk Region and are allegedly advancing along all sections of the front line. At the same time, ISW, as of June 5, records that russian troops have captured 99.77% of the Luhansk Region, 79.93% of the Donetsk Region and 74.99% of the Zaporizhzhia Region. Ukrainian forces have liberated more territory than the russian army occupied in April and May, indicating a decline in the russian military's combat performance and Ukraine's success in deterring the russian spring-summer offensive of 2026, the analysis says.
Putin's exaggerated claims suggest that the military command is not providing him with accurate data on the real situation on the battlefield, the summary says.
Putin also claims that russian forces have allegedly achieved drone parity with Ukrainian troops on the battlefield and have an advantage in some areas.
"Putin's statements on June 4 and 5 are consistent with his theory of victory, which states that russia can win a protracted attrition war if russian troops advance along the entire front. Russia is increasingly facing difficulties in maintaining its strategy of waging a protracted attrition war, and the effectiveness of russian troops on the battlefield has declined," the ISW points out.
Analysts add that putin's words at SPIEF prove that he remains committed to his military goals, his theory of victory, and the current method of waging a protracted war in Ukraine, despite difficulties on the front and in the economy of the aggressor country.
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