Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said that Moscow plans to fully occupy Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine in 2025. At a meeting of the Ministry of Defence, he confirmed that Russia would achieve “the goals announced by President Putin in June”.

“In 2025, Moscow plans to win the war,” Belousov added.

Russia’s representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, also announced Moscow’s intention to continue the war at a meeting of the Security Council. According to him, Moscow is not satisfied with proposals to freeze the war, so Russian troops will continue to fight if Ukraine does not agree to Putin’s conditions. At the same time, Russia is against any NATO involvement in ending the war.

On 14 June, Putin said that Russia would agree to a ceasefire and peace talks only if Ukraine withdrew from four Ukrainian regions and formally abandoned its aspirations to join NATO. Among the demands is the recognition of Crimea and Sevastopol as part of Russia.