Putin's goal isn't some territories, but whole of Ukraine - Zelenskyy on war with Russia

Russian leader Vladimir Putin isn't interested in holding on to certain settlements in Donbas or Crimea. The Kremlin's messages indicate that the Russians have larger goals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an interview with the Italian TV channel Rai 1.

"I do not believe that its goal is any territories. What we see, their actions, those strikes on civilian objects, intimidation of the civilian population of Ukraine with missiles, public statements by Putin's entourage, representatives of their intelligence, representatives of their army and himself. All of these messages indicate that they have not fulfilled the task and will continue the mission," he said.

In February, Putin called the war against Ukraine a "matter of life and death" for Russia.

"All of these messages indicate that his goal is not individual territories, his goal is the whole of Ukraine. We are convinced that Putin is not interested in just any territory, city, village, or Crimea, or Donbas. He is interested in the destruction of Ukraine as a whole, in the annexation of all these lands of independent Ukraine to Russia," Zelenskyy said.

• At the end of 2023, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev announced Russia's intention to seize Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv.
• In January, Medvedev said that the very fact of Ukraine's existence, regardless of its political regime, was the reason for the war.
• On March 4, Medvedev said that the territory on both banks of the Dnipro River is Russian and called Ukraine Russia.