'All of Ukraine is ours', says Putin as he threatens nuclear strike
22 June 2025, 16:50 | Updated: 23 June 2025, 08:20
In a sharp contrast to recent Kremlin rhetoric on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin laid claim to all of Ukraine and threatened a nuclear strike for the first time in months.
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Vladimir Putin insisted that Russia will not relinquish any occupied territory as part of peace negotiations with Ukraine.
On Friday, the Russian president told business leaders in St Petersburg: "I have said many times that I consider the Russian and Ukrainian people to be one nation."
"In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours."
"There is an old rule," he said. "'Where a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours'."
He also threatened a nuclear strike on Ukraine for the first time in months, promising "catastrophic" consequences if Kyiv used a dirty bomb against Russian forces.
"This would be a colossal mistake on the part of those whom we call neo-Nazis on the territory of today's Ukraine," he said. "It could be their last mistake."
Read More: One dead and 14 injured as Russia launches wave of strikes on Odesa
"We always respond and respond in kind. Therefore, our response will be very tough."
Mr Putin said he hopes Ukraine will be "guided by national interests" in negotiations, rather than by "the interests of its sponsors", who he says "are not interested in ending the conflict, but in using Ukraine for their own selfish political purposes".
Speaking to Sky News Arabia, Mr Putin also said negotiations must recognise "the will of the people who live in certain territories," referring to referendums held by Russian officials in 2022 in four annexed regions of Ukraine, and in Crimea.
All four regions voted to join Russia in the referendums, which were described as "shams" by the UK's foreign secretary.
"The will of the people is what [we] call democracy," said Mr Putin.
The Russian president's comments are in sharp contrast to the Krelim's recent rhetoric in regards to Ukraine. Since US President Donald Trump began pushing for a peace deal, Moscow has appeared to be open to a settlement.
On Saturday morning, Russia said it had captured a small village named Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine's Donetsk region.
Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, posted on Telegram saying that more than 200 Russian UAVs targeted the region on Friday.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was now in talks with Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, the UK and Lithuania to start joint weapons production.
He urged Kyiv's partners to provide 0.25% of their GDP to finance the production of Ukraine's weapons.
![Sir Keir Starmer has called on Vladimir Putin to "stop dragging his heels and get to the [negotiating] table", as Trump calls the Russian president "misguided."](https://images.lbc.co.uk/images/734580?width=320&crop=16_9&format=webp&signature=hCtUT-QBb1QuxMxVTF6Ch2nl6Ow=)
