INTERNATIONAL: Russia's Putin speaks war continuation in Ukraine

By: Ollus Ndomu

The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to take a new shift following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech in which he declared the Kremlin’s resolution to set new conflict goals.

President Putin was speaking Tuesday during the State of National Address ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The seemingly happy, unstressed and bold Putin said Russia wanted to solve the conflict in Ukraine peacefully but that Western countries had prepared a “different scenario’ behind its back.”

“We were doing everything possible to solve this problem peacefully, negotiating a peaceful way out of this difficult conflict..”

The Kremlin’s world-peace threatening address comes following U.S. President Joe Biden’s unannounced visit to the besieged Ukrainian capital, Kyiv on Monday.

According to White House press team, President Biden visited Kyiv to reaffirm America’s support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.

Speaking side by side with his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodimir Zelensky, Biden said the ongoing war is between democracy and authoritarianism but did not hesitate to mention that the former had won.

Meanwhile, President Putin said Biden’s unannounced visit to Ukraine was nothing extraordinary, adding that Moscow was preparing to launch the war afresh.

President Biden is currently in Warsaw, Poland, meeting with the Polish President and other key officials in the region in a bid to win more support for Ukraine.

Biden is also seeking to establish a U.S military command center headquarters in Poland to counter Russia’s escalating military aggression across the Europe’s Eastern Flank.

With tensions between Russia and the West at an all-time high, it remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming weeks.